1. Autism LINKED to vaccines? Nah, just kidding. – It’s just further evidence of autism’s genetic roots. Researchers have discovered that unsurprisingly, advanced maternal age increases the likelihood of autism:
Advanced maternal age is linked to a significantly elevated risk of having a child with autism, regardless of the father’s age, according to an exhaustive study of all births in California during the 1990s by UC Davis Health System researchers. Advanced paternal age is associated with elevated autism risk only when the father is older and the mother is under 30, the study found.
And the alleged increased rate of autism makes more sense when you consider how medical science is allowing more and more women to procreate well into their forties. Of course none of this can explain every single case of autism but it’s certainly a step in the right direction. Of course J.B. Handley would rather we all stop wasting our time, money, and energy on that worthless genetic research and perpetually investigate vaccines till the end of time. Sorry J.B. but we prefer to investigate avenues that will actually result in decreasing the rate of autism.
Health Protection Agency experts said most of the cases had been in children not fully vaccinated with combined MMR and so could have been prevented.
. . .
More than 600 of the 2008 measles cases occurred in London, where uptake of the vaccine for MMR – measles, mumps and rubella – is particularly low.
Public confidence in the triple MMR vaccine dipped following research – since discredited – which raised the possibility that the jab may be linked to an increased risk of autism.
Thanks Andrew Wakefield, Jenny McCarthy, J.B. Handley, et al. I hope you’re proud of yourselves.
3. Age of Wakefield – As I’ve reported before, the Age of Autism blog seems to have completely transformed itself in the Andrew Wakefield Defense Campaign website. Ever since Wakefield’s disgrace has been made official, close to 100% of the blog entries on the page are about spinning Wakefield as a persecuted martyr at the hands of the evil science mafia conspiracy. This is best illustrated by visiting their page but is also very evident when looking at the I Speak of Dreams blog, which has made a mission out of collecting blogs, both positive and negative, discussing the Wakefield scandal since his disgrace had become complete.
This blog, Skepacabra, makes at least one appearance on the list. But what’s abundantly clear is that while the blogs supporting the Lancet’s decision to retract the Wakefield story come from a multitude of sources spanning many backgrounds and sites including many actual medical professionals, those found in defense of Wakefield are almost exclusively from Age of Autism or at least from authors who regularly write for Age of Autism. There’s AoA regulars Kim Stagliano and David Kirby posting on the Huffington Post, a Fox “News” interview with AoA editor Mark Blaxill, CNN’s interview with Stagliano, well-established loony and non-doctor Mike Adams blogging over at his Natural News site. Then just a handful of obscure blogs and a whole mess of posts from Age of Autism directly.
So while this does a decent job of illustrating precisely where the campaign of misinformation spread, I do have to admit that there’s one thing on the I Speak of Dreams site that bugs me. I find it somewhat disconcerting that Debbie Schlussel and I agree about something. But at least I can be slightly comforted by the fact that Schlussel’s criticisms almost exclusively involve hurling sexist insults at Jenny McCarthy instead of well reasoned arguments.
The other day, I posted a humorous video that pocked fun at the common fallacy made by the media of promoting false balance. Now a perfect example of this has shown up and not surprisingly, it comes from Fox “News.“ [Due to embedding problems, I’ve simply linked to the repulsive Age of Autism blog’s page that includes the embed.]
Here, Fox “News” invited on a medical expert, Dr. Mark Siegal, in order to debate an imaginary medical controversy with a man with no real medical credentials of any kind but who simply has a loud enough voice, Mark Blaxill, editor of Age of Autism. I’m somewhat reminded of a counter protest sign mocking the Westboro Baptist Church that read: “I HAVE A SIGN.” Though it’s just kind of silly on the surface, I feel it also conveys a more insightful message than perhaps even what was intended, the idea that just because you’re loud and can hold up a sign, that automatically entitles you to have your message taken seriously by the media.
Unfortutely, in the clip linked to above, Dr. Siegel missed a great opportunity to slam Blaxill when Blaxill was asked point-blank what his evidence was that vaccines were responsible for autism. After Siegel had so superbly explained Blaxill’s tactics of appealing to emotions and scapegoating vaccines just to point the finger at something, Blaxill responded to the host’s inquiry by doing exactly what Siegel said he does. If I were Siegel, I wouldn’t have let him get away with it and when prompted to respond, would have insisted that I was still waiting for Blaxill to answer the question presented to him. Blaxill fails to present any evidence for why he believes so strongly that vaccines are responsible for autism except citing mysterious studies that agree with him that again, Siegel failed to call him on.
Of course by reading the comments on the Age of Autism page linked to above, it’s clear that Blaxill could have read the phone book the entire time and they’d still be declaring him the victor despite his complete failure to present evidence for his case. One commenter even celebrates the fact that Blaxill had such emotional stories while his opponent only had facts and statistics. It just goes to show how Age of Autism’s readers are impervious to evidence and reason. They just believe what they believe with a religious devotion that can’t be overcome no matter how much evidence is presented. All in all, I think Siegel did okay, a solid B or B+. He stated that Blaxill had no clear means of linking vaccines to autism and would appeal to emotion and fear, and that’s precisely what Blaxill did. If anyone watching the debate was on the fence before, I think they’d be more persuaded by Siegel, who answered all his questions, than by Blaxill, who clearly dodged them.
Sadly though, CNN is just as guilty as Fox of promoting the manufactured debate between an expert and someone whose only credentials are that she’s a mom of autistic kids. Alison Singer’s a mom with an autistic kid. Why isn’t she on the show? It’s flat-out absurd. And ironically, the fact that Kim Stagliano’s got multiple autistic kids, undeniably suggesting the genetic component to the disorder, went unmentioned. Kim’s mantra “trust the parents” is no more legitimate an argument than Stephen Colbert’s parody, “truthiness.” But again, it’s all just fear-mongering and appeals to “we’re just asking questions.” There’s nothing presented that legitimately points to vaccines.
1. Plot to kill famous Danish cartoonist thwarted – Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist whose work, including depictions of the Prophet Muhammed, outraged Danish Muslims so much that violent riots broke out, was almost murdered by a Muslim on Friday. The would-be killer tried to break into Westergaard’s home and was armed with a knife and an ax. Westergaard’s 5-year-old granddaughter was also in the home. When the cops arrived, the intruder pulled his ax on them, which led to them shooting him.
2. Kim Stagliano of Age of Autism reads the papers; she just deliberately chooses to misunderstand them – Here’s another hilarious piece from AoA, where the writer seems determined to reinterpret objective criticism against their batshit insane ideology to read things that aren’t in the article. She’s responding specifically to the USA Today article about the dangers of celebrities giving people medical advice, which mentioned the anti-vaccinationist movement. Kimmy seems to think that a double standard exists because the news media never criticizes celebrities that encourage people to seek legitimate medical treatment. And for once, I agree with Age of Autism. There really is a double standard. How dare the media not criticize celebrities when they offer good medical advice that saves lives?! For instance, I once heard a celebrity endorse seat belts and airbags even though something like one in a million people die each year from seat belts and airbags. The news media should be ashamed of itself for having standards!
One of the most common thing you’ll hear anti-vaccinationists say is that they’re being misrepresented by their critics and that they’re not anti-vaccine. One of the more amusing examples was during the recent Australian news segment I blogged about a week or 2 ago, where an anti-vaccine doctor denied being anti-vaccine before it was pointed out that she hasn’t vaccinated a single patient for anything in somewhere in the range of 2 decades.
Well, here’s both an example of how anti-vaccine these people really are as well as an example of how immature and utterly desperate they are to grasp at any straw within reach. Age of Autism actually blogged their praise for a comedic scene in the new Star Trek movie where Kirk has a slight unintended side effect from vaccines that cause his hands and tongue to briefly become swollen.
As much as I hate to disappoint Age of Autism, I don’t think J.J. Abrams intends to make Captain Kirk autistic in the next movie in the series. This is utterly ridiculous. There’s nothing in this scene resembling support for Age of Autism’s official position that they’re not anti-vaccine but about allegedly stopping vaccines from magically transforming people into autistics. If this isn’t the most childish reveal of their true agenda to undermine vaccines at all cost, I don’t know what is. And such a position is, as Spock would say, not logical. And as Worf would say, “you cannot regain honor by acting dishonorably.”
To Kim Stagliano, who wrote the article, and to all those at Age of Autism who thought the article was fit to print, just admit you’re anti-vaccine and GROW THE FUCK UP!
But wait! There’s more! – A good Christian homeschooling mom who sees the notion of a “gay-friendly” school being blown up by radical terrorists as justice:
A friend recently sent me this article about a “gay-friendly” high school. If we were living in a biblical society, homosexuality would be punishable by death so such a school would be unnecessary. Although I’m against the special accommodations, perhaps this new trend of segregation will protect straight kids from these predators. With any luck, some radical will blow up the gay school. No, I’m not condoning vigilantism–I’m merely saying that it would be poetic justice.
Yet another reason why if heaven exists, I wouldn’t like the company.
Abortion divides Catholic voters – Some won’t vote for a candidate who is pro-choose and others have at least some measure of priorities. And here is another story related to the Catholic vote.
But at least Obama has the much coveted celebrity vote:
Revenge of the clones – “What happens when a group of streptococci stick to cells in your throat and start to make toxins? Your body fights back by making clones.”
Researchers have made a new material that promises to greatly increase the efficiency of solar cells. It works by collecting photons over a wider spectrum of wavelengths and by using both fluorescence and phosphorescence to create an electron flow, allowing it to both collect more energy per unit area and facilitating the production of current.
MacGyvering a medical centrifuge – ” Harvard University chemists have built a centrifuge with some plastic tubing, tape, and an egg beater. It can separate plasma from blood cells, and could help doctors in remote villages perform simple lab tests.”
Antivaccinationist Gary Null demanding that vaccines be 100% safe! – What a freakin’ jackass! That is a False Continuum and very the height of denialism: well it isn’t 100% safe, so it’s like it’s 0% safe and I don’t want it. Seriously, this guy sounds so over the top you’d almost swear this were satire.
The new leader of the ruling Kadima Party, Tzipi Livni, needs to put together a coalition government in order to become prime minister.
One of the parties she had to schedule coalition negotiations with is an ultra-Orthodox Jewish party run by an octogenarian rabbi, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef:
Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef has describ[ed] the Holocaust as God’s retribution against the reincarnated souls of Jewish sinners. He said Katrina was punishment for godlessness in New Orleans and U.S. support for the Gaza pullout. And he once said that “walking between two women is like walking between two donkeys or between two camels.”
Because that’s who you want handling world affairs. It suddenly becomes clear why the Middle East is so chaotic.
Lifeway Christian Bookstores is pulling this magazine from its shelves because of something wrong on the cover. Here’s a little test of your critical thinking skills. What’s wrong with this magazine cover? (aside from the fact that there is an actual magazine called “Gospel Today”):
If you said, “Women pastors?! WHAT?! That’s blasphemy!” then you win!
Age of Autism learns(?) a valuable lesson about libel and that you can’t just go around making serious conspiracy accusations about anyone you dislike – Yesterday I posted about Julia Berle’s repulsive whining accusations against CBS because they didn’t air an episode of the show “The Doctors” which featured her as a guest. Well, Age of Autism has taken down that post and replaced it with a message indicating the 2 major assumptions she made that turned out to be WRONG! I hope Ms. Berle and her fellow AoA goons have learned a valuable lesson about not jumping to paranoid conclusions first. Oh, who am I kidding? They haven’t learned a damned thing and will continue their irresponsible and childish behavior. Apparently CBS was pissed at all the calls they received about this, leading AoA to ask its readers:
“Please refrain from any emails or phone calls to CBS about this matter.”
My request: Please email and call CBS complaining about the pulling of the show while accusing CBS of being part of the Big Pharma conspiracy. And tell them Age of Autism’s Julia Berle and Kim Stagliano sent you.
Many New Species Found On Australian Reefs – “Hundreds of new kinds of animal species surprised international researchers systematically exploring waters off two islands on the Great Barrier Reef and a reef off northwestern Australia — waters long familiar to divers. “
GM Crops Protect Neighbors From Pests? – “A study in northern China indicates that genetically modified cotton, altered to express the insecticide, Bt, not only reduces pest populations among those crops, but also reduces pests among other nearby crops that have not been modified with Bt. These findings could offer promising new ideas for controlling pests and maximizing crop yields in the future.”
‘Green Gasoline’ Converted From Sugar – “Following independent paths of investigation, two research teams are announcing this month that they have successfully converted sugar-potentially derived from agricultural waste and non-food plants-into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and a range of other valuable chemicals.”
Sarah Palin – creationist sympathizer – In the past she’s stated that science classes should “teach the controversy” between Evolution and Creationism. I wonder if she thinks we should also teach these equally valid controversies:
Get ready for flu season – If you’re Kim Stagliano from the “Age of Autism” blog, you probably think the flu is harmless because you never saw anyone die of the flu in Leave It To Beaver, but it’s actually responsible for 35,000 deaths a year.
Autism “Research” Institute (ARI) announces Autism TV – Sounds like a great idea, right? Wrong. There’s a reason I put quotation marks around the word “Research.” Yup, this is a front group for propagating anti-vaccine misinformation. In fact, the Age of Autism blog says they’re sponsored by the ARI. What a depressing development. But I suppose Jenny McCarthy will probably have a job again.
Arctic Ice On Verge Of Another All-time Low – “Following last summer’s record minimum ice cover in the Arctic, current observations from ESA’s Envisat satellite suggest that the extent of polar sea-ice may again shrink to a level very close to that of last year.”
Why Flies Are So Hard To Swat – “Over the past two decades, Michael Dickinson has been interviewed by reporters hundreds of times about his research on the biomechanics of insect flight. One question from the press has always dogged him: Why are flies so hard to swat? … Long before the fly leaps, its tiny brain calculates the location of the impending threat, comes up with an escape plan, and places its legs in an optimal position to hop out of the way in the opposite direction. All of this action takes place within about 100 milliseconds after the fly first spots the swatter.”
Eyes Evolved For ‘X-Ray Vision’ – “The advantage of using two eyes to see the world around us has long been associated solely with our capacity to see in 3-D. Now, a new study from a scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has uncovered a truly eye-opening advantage to binocular vision: our ability to see through things.” The article also says:
“All animals have a binocular region — parts of the world that both eyes can see simultaneously — which allows for X-ray vision and grows as eyes become more forward facing.
Demonstrating our X-ray ability is fairly simple: hold a pen vertically and look at something far beyond it. If you first close one eye, and then the other, you’ll see that in each case the pen blocks your view. If you open both eyes, however, you can see through the pen to the world behind it.
To demonstrate how our eyes allow us to see through clutter, hold up all of your fingers in random directions, and note how much of the world you can see beyond them when only one eye is open compared to both. You miss out on a lot with only one eye open, but can see nearly everything behind the clutter with both.”
And in monkey news…
Unexpected Monkey Population Found In Cambodia – “A Wildlife Conservation Society report reveals surprisingly large populations of two globally threatened primates in a protected area in Cambodia. The report counted 42,000 black-shanked douc langurs along with 2,500 yellow-cheeked crested gibbons in Cambodia’s Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area, an estimate that represents the largest known populations for both species in the world.”
Before I begin, I noticed something last night about the Kim Stagliano’s anti-vaccine blog I commented on 2 days ago. This is the one where she laughs at the measles epidemic because her only knowledge of the disease seem to come from sitcoms where character developed chicken pox, which she seemed to think was the same as measles and which she seemed to be unaware was a potentially fatal disease. Maybe I’m wrong, but now it seems that she has adding “and Chicken Pox” to the title of her blog when I only recall it reading “When Did Measles Go From Entertainment To Epidemic?” Maybe I’m wrong and chicken pox was always part of the title but she must have at least gotten a pingback message informing her that someone has linked to her blog, so it’s very plausible she may have read my blog or the blog of someone else who mocked her idiocy and changed it after the fact. Not that this would change the absurdity of her blog but at least it would clarify that she does indeed understand that measles and chicken pox are 2 different diseases. Anyway, if anyone knows for sure, let me know.
Moving on.
The United States is suffering from the worst measles outbreak in a very long time, particularly in the San Diego area. This disease is prevented with a single vaccine, the MMR vaccine. The first M stands for measles. Now another easily preventable disease, mumps (the second M in the MMR vaccine) is plaguing Canada. All of this because of misplaced fears of vaccines. This time it’s mainly the result of superstitious religious thinking that getting vaccinated shows lack of faith in god. Now in his blog, Steve Novella points out the obvious inconsistency of this sort of thinking:
“I wonder if they feel it is blasphemy to wear a seatbelt, or use sunscreen, wash their hands, cook their food thoroughly, or do any of the common-sense things people should do to reduce their risk of infection or disease.”
But this brings me to a much larger logic inconsistency when it comes to religion: if god’s got a divine plan and god performs miracles to protect people from dying “before their time,” why see a doctor at all? I call this argument, The Christian Death Paradox, though it can be adapted to many, if not most other religions:
Christians hold the viewpoint that death is a positive thing so long as you’re on Jesus’ saved list, since now you’re with god in paradise. But if this is the case, why do Christians respond to death and tragedy as if these are bad things, the same way an atheist would? I morn the deaths of loved ones and view events like 9/11 as bad things because I believe that I’ll never see these loved ones again and these lives are lost forever.
Christians, on the other hand, believe they will see their fellow Christians again and that they’re going to a better place. So why don’t they react the same to death as they would if they were simply moving away and not going to see these people again for just a few years? Why do Christians even bother to go to the hospital when they’re sick if they believe death will take them to a better place? Why do they lock their doors at night? Why do they look both ways before crossing the street?
Christians still haven’t satisfactorily answered this paradox. Why oppose abortion and condemn what they perceive as the murder of babies if the babies are going to a better place? If life is just God’s waiting room and you view a fetus as a life, why not abort fetuses? If life is but a joke, why not spare already saved people (since Catholicism has recently declared there is no limbo and never was) from living it?
I asked a Christian in a text comment on YouTube why she’s so scared of dying and why she goes to such great lengths to avoid death if she is so convinced she’d go to better place? She couldn’t answer the question so employed a dodge by insisting that that’s “testing” God and only Satan tests God. Believers just believe and testing God shows they lack faith. I insisted that what I describe is not a test. If she’s so certain God exists and that she’s going to Heaven, then where’s the test? As the religious community that has developed mumps in Canada point out, taking secular medical action would be the test. And leaving your door unlocked at night is hardly suicide. to not rely on god to protect your home would be the test. Choosing to rely on god’s wisdom rather than medical science is a show of faith, not doubt. So again. I told the woman I was communicating with on YouTube to stop dodging and to just answer the question:
Why are you scared of death?
I never got an answer that was even remotely satisfying.
Homophobic, Bible-thumpers trying to overturn California same-sex marriage law – With the war in Iraqi, the genocide in Darfur, the hostilities in Georgia, the AIDS epidemic in Africa, constant chaos throughout the Middle East, widespread poverty, and a host of other crises around the world, I for one applaud these guys for having their priorities straight [rolling eyes].
“An estimated 15,000 backers of the measure, most of them members of Mormon, Catholic and evangelical Christian churches, knocked on doors and distributed campaign literature to registered voters throughout the state this weekend and last, according to Jennifer Kerns, a spokeswoman for the Yes on 8 campaign.”
Did you know that the four major television networks have declared war on decency by suing the FCC for the right to air profanity and nudity at any time of day? We do have a counter attack but the Protecting Children from Indecent Programming Act (S. 1780) is currently stalled in the U.S. Senate. The Act (S. 1780) would reaffirm Congress’ support for vigorous enforcement of the existing broadcast dece! ncy laws and the importance of protecting the public airwaves from indecent content.
In order to ensure the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) ability to fine broadcasters over “fleeting” instances of profanity or nudity, S. 1780 needs to be voted on by the full Senate. If S. 1780 does not pass, the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act passed two years ago will be rendered essentially meaningless.
Recently, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia threw out a $550,000 indecency fine levied against CBS for the infamous 2004 Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction.” CBS also allowed profanity during Big Brother 10, which airs during prime time.
We are in a pivotal time regarding the ownership of America’s broadcast airwaves. The law says these airwaves belong to the American people, but the networks are trying to take them over and turn them into a toxic sewer. Now is the time to fight back!
Deist Thomas Paine–one of, if not the most important of our Founding Fathers and one of, if not the most anti-religious of our mostly anti-religious Founding Fathers returns to my neighboring town of Fort Lee, New Jersey in the form of a statue to be placed where the man himself once stood.
The only thing that bites is this journalist’s investigative reporting skills – Another article about a “pet psychic.” This one is from a New England paper and begins with the title, “City puts the bite on pet psychic,” With a title like that you’d think you were in for a triumph of common sense against a con artist. But sadly, no. It’s another thinly veiled advertisement for this “pet psychic’s” services. Someone should tell the “psychic,” Willow that she still has time to enter to win the JREF million dollar prize. I’m sure she’ll get right on that as it’s the obvious solution to her problems.
Anti-vaxxer moron actually laughs at measles epidemic – Why? Everything she knows about the measles she learned from Leave It To Beaver and other sitcoms…with plotlines about CHICKEN POX. I can see how Kim Stagliano, Managing Editor of Age of Autism, could mix those 2 up; they sound so similar. According to Wikipedia:
“Globally, measles deaths are down 60 percent, from an estimated 873,000 deaths in 1999 to 345,000 in 2005. Africa has seen the most success, with annual measles deaths falling by 75 percent in just 5 years, from an estimated 506,000 to 126,000.[13]“
Oh, and Kim, there is no Thimerosal in MMR vaccines. Just thought you should know.
Article on atheist billboard in Playboy Magazine – I was fortunate enough to see an almost identical billboard on my commute to work every day on the New Jersey Turnpike for a few months last year.
How large is Big Religion in America? – I’m not entirely in favor of the whole “framing” thing with regards to these issues but I’m personally just a big fan of the phrase “Big Religion” myself…though I only use it somewhat ironically, not so much as a “framing” technique or for propaganda purposes.
“But what is much more remarkable than that economic achievement is that the contents – or rather lack of contents – of this book show Dawkins himself to have become what he and his fellow secularists typically believe to be an impossibility: namely, a secularist bigot. (Helpfully, my copy of The Oxford Dictionary defines a bigot as ‘an obstinate or intolerant adherent of a point of view’).”
Then I guess that makes Flew a Creationist bigot by the same definition and us all math bigots and history bigots too. I know I personally am intolerant of the belief that 2 + 2 = 5 and am completely intolerant of beliefs that are just plain: WRONG! I think Mr. Flew greatly undermines and diminishes the severity of what that word means. Maybe he should visit Afghanistan with some female friends or he should pretend to be an out of the closet gay man in the Bible Belt to learn what bigotry really means. If intellectual honesty is bigotry then call me a proud bigot!
Monkeys Enjoy Giving To Others – “Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, have shown capuchin monkeys, just like humans, find giving to be a satisfying experience. This finding comes on the coattails of a recent imaging study in humans that documented activity in reward centers of the brain after humans gave to charity.”
Bizarre Qualities Can Drive Species Evolution – “The ostentatious, sometimes bizarre qualities that improve a creature’s chances of finding a mate may also drive the reproductive separation of populations and the evolution of new species, say two Indiana University Bloomington biologists.”
Researchers Study ‘Cocktail Party Effect’ – “Call it the cocktail party effect: how an individual can participate in a one-on-one conversation within a cluster of people, switch to another, pick up important comments while tuning out others, change topics and return to the first conversation.”
As some of you may have noticed, the nonexistent controversy over whether or not vaccines cause or contribute to autism (They don’t) has pretty much become the most common theme on this blog, well above what is probably my second most common theme: Creationism/Intelligent Design. the nonexistent controversy over whether or not Evolution is true (It is). Well, that’s because it’s fast becoming the largest medical pseudoscience of our time and with almost daily news stories on it, it’s almost impossible for anyone who follows the news to avoid the topic. And incidentally it also draws a lot of traffic to this blog. Many of my most visited blogs have been those addressing this subject. Let’s face it; this autism “debate” is as sexy a news topic today as Global Warming.
Of course we’ve known for a while about the measles epidemic. And those of us who form conclusions based on evidence and reason instead of “mommy instinct” knew this problem was going to inevitably get much larger. Fortunately, unlike many other countries there have still been no recent measles-related deaths in the United States. That’s largely due to our superior medical facilities, still possibly the best in the world, unlike our shoddy healthcare system because a bunch of rich people don’t like the thought of waiting on lines. But that’s another issue.
Another major factor that has prevented measles epidemics in the past and measles-related deaths in this country has been herd immunity, which Wikipedia excellently defines as:
Herd immunity (or community immunity) describes a type of immunity that occurs when the vaccination of a portion of the population (or herd) provides protection to unvaccinated individuals.[1] Herd immunity theory proposes that, in diseases passed from person-to-person, it is more difficult to maintain a chain of infection when large numbers of a population are immune. The more immune individuals present in a population, the lower the likelihood that a susceptible person will come into contact with an infected individual
This is one of the main reasons why we keep the unvaccinated out of our public schools, to protect the kids from the children of stupid parents. So it’s no surprise that it’s mostly hitting the home-schooled child population, which in this country pretty much means children of crazy religious and anti-scientific parents:
In a way vaccines are suffering from having been too successful. Having all but defeated measles, mumps, influenza, and polio among many others, humanity has seen an unprecedented rise in our lifespans (unlike alternative medicine, which hasn’t defeated anything). And since my father had polio it’s safe to say I probably would have never existed if it weren’t for vaccines. In fact, most of us owe our lives to vaccines in one way or another.
That’s why now that anti-scientific superstitious fears of vaccines have become ubiquitous it’s safe to conclude that this will inevitably lead to demonstrable harm. And when that harm comes we’ll fortunately know who’s largely to blame, misguided false prophets like Jenny McCarthy, Andrew Wakefield, J.B. Handley, David Kirby, Kim Stagliano, Dan Olmsted, Barbara Loe Fisher, Dr. Jay Gordon, Dr. Rashid Buttar, who have campaigned tirelessly against one of humanity’s best weapons for fighting disease because they couldn’t be bothered with actually studying the science…or rather because they didn’t care what the evidence said. Without wishing to be a doom-sayer or fear-monger, I’d say it’s only a matter of time now before children start dying from easily preventable diseases like the measles in this country. And that’s reason to be very, very concerned about this issue.
And this MSNBC article is being added to my ever-growing list of resources anti-vaxxers don’t want you to see:
“From time to time, rumors circulate that thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative once used in several vaccines (and still used in some flu vaccine), could contribute to ASDs. However, valid scientific studies have shown there is no link. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Medical Association (AMA), the CDC, and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) agree that science does not support a link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism.” -American Academy of Pediatrics (http://www.aap.org/healthtopics/Immunizations.cfm)
“The author concludes that recent studies have found no association between MMR vaccination and autism. The frequent embryologic neuroanatomic abnormalities found in children with autism lessen the likelihood that MMR immunization is a major risk factor. The Immunization Safety Review Committee of the Institute of Medicine and a special American Academy of Pediatrics panel have concluded that evidence does not support MMR immunization as a risk factor for autism.” -RICHARD SADOVSKY, M.D., American Academy of Family Physicians (http://www.aafp.org/afp/20020301/tips/14.html)
“On May 18th, 2004, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its eighth and final report from its Immunization Safety Review Committee.Based on a thorough review of clinical and epidemiological studies, neither the mercury-based vaccine preservative thimerosal nor the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine are associated with autism, says the new report. Furthermore, the hypotheses regarding how the MMR vaccine and thimerosal could trigger autism lack supporting evidence and are theoretical only. Further research to find the cause of autism should be directed toward other lines of inquiry that are supported by current knowledge and evidence and offer more promise for providing an answer, said the committee that wrote the report.The American Medical Association (AMA) lauds the process that went into the creation of this scientific report and applauds the IOM and the CDC for their strong efforts in continuing to ensure the safety of the vaccines that are administered in the United States through post-market surveillance and studies such as this.” -American Medical Association (http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/13703.html”
“Some people believe increased exposure to thimerosal (from the addition of important new vaccines recommended for children) explains the higher prevalence in recent years. However, evidence from several studies examining trends in vaccine use and changes in autism frequency does not support such an association. Furthermore, a scientific review* by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that “the evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.” CDC supports the IOM conclusion.” –Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/thimerosal.htm)
“There is much debate regarding the correlation of childhood vaccines and the occurrence of autism in children. The weight of currently available scientific evidence does not support the hypothesis that vaccines cause autism. We recognize there is considerable public interest in this issue.” -U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Resources (http://www.hhs.gov/autism/)
1. Autism LINKED to vaccines? Nah, just kidding. – It’s just further evidence of autism’s genetic roots. Researchers have discovered that unsurprisingly, advanced maternal age increases the likelihood of autism:
2. England & Wales see 36% rise in measles – That’s the largest number since the monitoring scheme was introduced in 1995.
3. Age of Wakefield – As I’ve reported before, the Age of Autism blog seems to have completely transformed itself in the Andrew Wakefield Defense Campaign website. Ever since Wakefield’s disgrace has been made official, close to 100% of the blog entries on the page are about spinning Wakefield as a persecuted martyr at the hands of the evil science mafia conspiracy. This is best illustrated by visiting their page but is also very evident when looking at the I Speak of Dreams blog, which has made a mission out of collecting blogs, both positive and negative, discussing the Wakefield scandal since his disgrace had become complete.
Posted by Michael Rosch 
Skepacabra 