Guest Review of To Siri With Love

This is a guest review of controversial work, “To Siri With Love” previously covered on MHN here [1], [2] and [3]. The review below is reprinted from Amazon with kind permission of its author, Dr Elena Chandler Ph.D. Revealing that this is a senior professional and academic not a basement dwelling troll helps to make demonstrate how improper it is for Judith Newman to try to have adverse reviews removed. Chandler has also posted frequently in the #BoycottToSiri Twitter hashtag.

EChandler

Dr Elena Chandler. (Picture via Dr Chandler).

To Siri With Love is a highly contentious book that has sparked significant public conflict between the author and the autistic community. I will review the book here and detail some of the reception of the book, which speaks volumes about the issues that have been raised about the book itself.

Before examining the content in detail, however, I would like to start by immediately addressing the most significant issue with the book, and it is an issue that effectively renders all other criticism moot: the author, Judith Newman, has written a tell-all about her 13 year old son. It includes intimate details about his masturbatory habits, a long litany of what Newman sees as intractable impairments, his humiliations and a great deal of, sadly often inaccurate, interpretation of his behaviors by Newman. Her son was/is not of an age, when he could understand the implications of this book or give his consent.

Continue reading

Share Button

Judith Newman, Psychologist Dr Dean Parker and Amazon Reviews

Over the last two days, I have covered a number of issues with the book, “To Siri With Love” and Judith Newman its New York based author. There are a number of concerns with the book, which mostly deals with her son Gus Newman and which are set out elsewhere, in my first article as well as by third party authors [1], [2] and [3]. Now it has been revealed that Newman has enlisted her friends in writing positive reviews and reporting negative ones to have them deleted, apparently contrary to Amazon rules.

AmazonLogo

Amazon – has a detailed “Anti-Manipulation Policy for Customer Reviews” and a zero tolerance approach.

After the controversy erupted, a whistleblower approached a disability rights website, “International Badass Activists” with alleged screenshots of discussions  (archive) between Newman and her friends.

In the discussion, Newman seems to engage in getting her friends to write reviews and asking them to report adverse reviews.

It seems that to some extent her concerns are legitimate. As a customer I expect reviewers to have read the book and it is reasonable and proportionate that Amazon restrict reviews to purchasers. Whilst that will exclude some people who might have read the book elsewhere, it will certainly exclude abusive reviews by people who have not even read the book.

DeanParkerVerified

One of the screenshots shows and individual claiming to be a clinical psychologist. This concerned me.

I decided to see if I could verify the comments. One thing that concerned me was this screenshot. A person called Dean Parker claimed that they were a clinical psychologist and had used that title in representations to Amazon. I decided to see if the allegations were true.

Tracing Dr Parker did not take long. He is a New York State licensed psychologist, number 008022. (confirmed here). I asked him if the statement was accurate. He responded (amongst other things), “[…] She gave permission for my commentary on the page […]”. So the context appears to be correct.

At no time during our correspondence did he deny that the screenshot was real, although he did at one point threaten that he has no less than two licensed attorneys he is related to willing to sue me. The reason I was concerned though, was the content of the book he was endorsing and the appropriateness of a licensed professional doing so.

Continue reading

Share Button

Child Abuse Controversy Author Judith Newman Shares Tweet About Bombing Israeli Donald Trump Train Station

Controversial Harper Collins Author Judith Newman is presently embroiled in a storm over alleged abuse of her son. Now she has invited further outrage by sharing a tweet about potential bombing of an Israeli train station if it is named after Donald Trump.

JudithNewman2013

Judith Newman in 2013. This woman literally uses her repeated re-reading of a lurid passage from paedophile molestation story “Lolita”, her admitted “favorite” 20th century novel, as an analogy to her son’s interest in escalators. Source – Wikipedia commons. CC-BY-SA-3.0.

Judith Newman was first covered by MHN yesterday in relation to her book, which discusses her underage children in excruciating detail including detailed comment one son’s penis and foreskin and both of their porn viewing habits. She also announces she intends to obtain power of attorney over her autistic son Gus for the purpose of having him sterilised. Newman also states that her “favorite” 20th century novel is infamous tale of pedophile obsession and abuse, “Lolita”.

Predictably, the book’s disturbing content has led to criticism of Newman, executives at Harper Collins and numerous negative reviews even with Amazon restricting them to verified purchasers. Details of email contact details for complaints are included in my last article. This is well worth reading for newcomers as it deals in more detail with the sexual concerns.

Another group of people who may wish to complain are Trump supporters, about this tweet (archive) –

JudithNewmanBombIsraelStation

Doubling down, Judith Newman shared this troubling tweet. Click for full size.

The tweet is capable of multiple interpretations, all of them problematic. At its most benevolent it could be taken as meaning that in the febrile environs of the Middle East naming a station after a divisive leader could make it a target. Unfortunately, unstable individuals and members of violent extremist groups like Antifa could interpret it as encouraging violence. More generally the use of excessive hyperbole is one of many contributors to our current highly polarised society. Continue reading

Share Button

Brian Murray, CEO of Harper Collins, Author Judith Newman and the Horrific Child Abuse of Newman’s Son #BoycottToSIRI

BrianMurray

Brian Murray CEO of Harper Collins bears moral responsibility for this horrific emotional abuse of Gus Newman and abrogation of his privacy and dignity. Picture via Flickr – CC BY-SA 2.0 by ActuaLitté. Picture slightly cropped.

For the last two years, MHN has been campaigning for the closure of Kiwi Farms, a website that stalks the disabled, tricks them or hacks their accounts for intimate revelations. The abuse is recounted in Margaret Pless’ detailed and well sourced article for New York Magazine as well as many articles here.

So it is unsurprising that when previously respectable publisher Harper Collins released a book by author Judith Newman, “To Siri With Love” behaving in a similarly intrusive way towards her own son, that there would be widespread condemnation and a campaign to #BoycottToSiri. The book is a horrific invasion of privacy in which Newman shares private sexual and medical information and announces her intent to have her son sterilised. It is obviously capable of great harm to her child. On this occasion Harper Collins CEO Brian Murray and Publisher Michael Morrison took their eyes of the ball. They need to lose their jobs for it. Contact details for writing to them to ask them to withdraw the book are below.

We all remember our teenage years. The little ways our parents would embarrass us. The need for privacy to explore developing sexual feelings and to make mistakes without the world looking after our shoulders. These things are difficult enough for those of us without serious disabilities. Of course, for those suffering from emotional problems or serious conditions like autism the quest for dignity and autonomy can be far more complex and difficult.

Now, imagine your vile and emotionally abusive mother decides to –

  • disclose to the world that you have a stigmatised disability – autism
  • discuss your potty training (chapter 1)
  • admit her favourite 20th century novel is the world’s most infamous paedophile novel (chapter 3)
  • mock your sexuality – claiming she envisages it with a “Benny Hill” soundtrack (chapter 8)
  • discusses your crushes and intimate relationships in detail (throughout)
  • discussed your porn browsing habits and indeed your sibling’s (chapter 13)
  • publicly states she intends to obtain power of attorney over you and have you sterilised (chapter 13)

For extra horror points, imagine a multinational corporation decides to help your mother distribute this worldwide in a book. That is the situation faced by Gus Newman at the hands of his mother Judith Newman, Harper Collins CEO Brian Murray and President Michael Morrison.

Continue reading

Share Button

EU Collapse Continues as European Commission Recommends Disciplinary Process Against Poland

EUCollapsesLikeDominoes

The strategic genius of the European Union is on display once again as it picks a battle it cannot win with another EU member. Picture via Dreamstime.

The slow disintegration of the European Union accelerated this week as the EU Commission recommended disciplinary action against Poland under Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty. The treaty, signed in 2007 and coming into force in 2009, gives the EU the power to discipline member states by imposing sanctions and suspending their voting rights. The move comes after Poland moved to enact reforms aimed at cleaning up the Polish judiciary. The Commission was humiliated as Hungary immediately pledged to veto any sanctions and Poland and the UK had a private summit to discuss a trade deal.

A few years ago a British judge called Starforth Hill, then 71, provoked outrage when he said a 9-year-old victim of sex crime was “not entirely an angel”, leading to adverse headlines and Parliamentary demands for his dismissal. His actions also prompted a healthy debate over retirement age for judges.

In Poland, there have been many complaints about slow court cases and corrupt judges. As part of a package of reforms, the Polish government have introduced a retirement age of 65 for men and 60 for women. The Polish Parliament will also appoint a greater proportion of the committee – the National Judiciary Council – that in turn selects judges.

Continue reading

Share Button

Twitter Purge – Should Corporations Now Decide Acceptable Speech?

Burning Money.

The Twitter purge demonstrates corporations now purport to determine what speech is acceptable.

Twitter has begun to purge alleged hate speakers, including extremists. However, people banned in recent years include those with credible claims to be middle of the road Conservatives and Human Rights activists. A few years ago I was permanently suspended, but legally persuaded them to unban me. I then used the unban to delete my accounts in disgust. I then had to threaten them again to make them ban people impersonating me with my old names. Aside from me, they even failed to ban an account claiming to link to the “child porn captial [sic] of the internet” until they received multiple media inquiries. I have little time for Twitter. However, why are we as a society allowing corporations to police free speech?

Twitter is a social media company partially owned by a Saudi Arabian prince. Saudi Arabia being a country where the monarch is an actual, old fashioned monarch who holds legislative and executive power and most public offices are held by members of his extended family. Continue reading

Share Button

Kiwi Farms Member Kills 2 in School Rampage Before Killing Himself – Police Knew of Risk Nearly 2 Years Ago

WilliamAtchison

William Atchison a Kiwi Farms member shot and killed two students at Aztec High School in New Mexico on December 7, 2017 Source: San Juan County Sheriff’s Office

Two children are dead after a Kiwi Farms member William Atchison (Kiwi Farms Profile archive) went on a school rampage in New Mexico (archive). Atchison, 21, was apparently a member of the web forum Kiwi Farms that this site has campaigned to close for nearly 2 years. Kiwi Farms has previously been linked to threats to murder school children, but now for the first time the massacre threats have actually been carried out leading to real world deaths.

For those unfamiliar to this site, I am a law graduate – I have passed the lawyer’s exams here in the UK but not sought admission as a solicitor. I assist the vulnerable in court solely for charity and I have been mentioned in Parliament. Earlier this year I was praised in reported case law (paragraph 14) by a High Court judge, in a case heard shortly before I received my Master’s Degree. For the past two years I have been campaigning to shut down Kiwi Farms, a site run by Joshua Conner Moon – formerly of Pensacola, Florida.

KiwiFarmsTwitter

Kiwi Farms is run by paedophile sadist Joshua Conner Moon and exists to harass the disabled. Click for full size.

Kiwi Farms exists to stalk the vulnerable. It says so, officially. “Gossip and exploitation of the mentally handicapped for amusement purposes” (from their Twitter, archived pre-ban here).

New York Magazine’s Select All section wrote an article about the site, detailing how they stalked an autistic man called Christian Weston Chandler and groomed a 13-year-old boy into posing as a 19-year-old female and having phone sex with the man. This they audio recorded for “amusement purposes”, publishing a recording and transcript.

I have written numerous articles, for example about the site members, paedophile sadism – including collecting pictures of the children of victims and publishing textual child rape stories on a spin-off board. I wrote about massacre threats sent to Florida schools from the Kiwi Farms email service. I wrote about terror threats sent to hospitals in Wales from the Kiwi Farms email service. Continue reading

Share Button

Welwyn-Hatfield Labour’s Jamie Fulford Sees the Light Over Identity Politics and Joins Conservatives

The Witchfinder was delighted to speak to new Welwyn-Hatfield Conservative member Jamie Fulford, who left the Labour Party over issues of free speech and his rejection of identity politics.

Bleeding Rose

Labour must take responsibility for the immense human suffering caused by divisive identity politics. (Picture licensed from Dreamstime)

In past articles I explained how the Labour Party has a byzantine internal structure with vast numbers of unnecessary grassroots roles. These roles parcel out tiny amounts of real world power and the illusion of status and authority to activists in exchange for large quantities of repetitive work. Being in the Labour Party is much like grinding in an MMO and costs just under half the price of a World of Warcraft (WoW) subscription – so good value for money for those with nothing better to do of an evening.

In Labour, factional conflict works much like guilds in WoW, and the illusion of the importance of the meaningless roles is reinforced as members can leverage them in internal conflicts. Just as WoW powers are fictional and only work in the game, most Labour Party ‘power’ is only useful internally for PvP activities. Also like an MMO, subscribers progress through levels of imaginary power and obtain shiny character customisation gear such as badges, ribbons and rosettes. The result has many of the addictive qualities of online gaming and keeps the members delivering leaflets and knocking on doors.

One such recruit was Jamie Fulford, who sys he has a BSc in Law and Politics and a BA in Media Arts. Jamie rejoined Labour in 2015 and in April 2016 became the “Digital Media and IT Officer” of Welwyn Hatfield Labour Party, a role equivalent to roughly level 2-3 in a WoW character. Jamie has now resigned and joined the Conservative Party. Fulford quickly had a cruel education in the illusory nature of authority in Labour Party grassroots roles.

Continue reading

Share Button