Original anti-vaccine article discredited

Article Zero for the autism/anti-vaccination movement has been formally retracted by The Lancet after extensive review and a build up of evidence that it is bad science in almost every way. The Triple Antigen (for US readers MMR) vaccine against Measles, Mumps and Rubella (German Measles) was linked by Andrew Wakefield to intestinal problems in 12 autistic children in a paper in 1998. Later it emerged that Wakefield had commercial interests in the development of an alternative to the MMR vaccine.

Peer review works, unfortunately it works slowly, and the damage has been done in much the same way as the Proctor and Gamble/Church of Satan rumour.



Good blog article:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/02/02/and-now-the-antivax-failure-is-complete-the-lancet-withdraws-wakefields-paper/

NPR story.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/02/lancet_wakefield_autism_mmr_au.html?sc=fb&cc=fp


Forbes article written for laymen:
http://blogs.forbes.com/sciencebiz/2010/02/the-lancets-incomprehensible-autism-retraction/

Andrew Wakefield wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wakefield

MMR vaccine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMR_vaccine

In case you'd never heard of the Soap War over Proctor and Gamble's supposed links to Satanism...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proctor_and_Gamble#Logo_controversy

How long before Microsoft follows Toyota US and issues a little metal plate to fix all the bugs in Windows?

Emma Watson is almost through with being the nerdy Miss Grainger, she's the Face of Burberry again this year.

How long until she's a Bond Girl?

Am I the first one to think it?

Well, the Ruddbot's myschool.edu.au website is useless, made of FAIL. It takes into account that the school my daughter went to last year had 8% Indigenous students, but makes no provision for ESL students (there are more Somali refugees than Aboriginal students). Also somehow a school with 5 classrooms has 35 teaching staff... It thinks that the students are from an average socio-economic background, which is very far from the truth (urban core poor kids for the most part). Oh, and it thinks the school, 800m from the City Hall of the second largest largest inland city in Australia is "provincial".

A few minutes ago my daughter (Miss S) became a highschool student. I hope her 5 year sentence goes better than mine did. Being a Weird Smart Kid makes her a target, hopefully schools have been made a little safer by Bullying Policies and suchlike things.

May 2010 suck less than 2009.

May the gods grant you wealth, happiness, and love.

Or failing that, credit extension, booze and cheap hookers.

My daughter is reading the Belgariad, her teacher read part of Pawn of Prophesy in class (until they got bored and insisted on something less challenging). She found my old copy (which I read on the bus on the way to Melbourne in mid-86) and is enjoying it. My little nerdling ;-)

May the things you get be nifty, and the intangibles indescribable.

Go see it.

BUT, I find a lot to agree with in this review
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/avatar-20091217-kxw5.html

If you don't know, as of today, Facebook will automatically index all your info on Google, which allows everyone to view it. To change this option, go to Settings --> Privacy Settings --> Search --> then UN-CLICK the box that says 'Allow indexing'. Facebook kept this one quiet.

Hmmm, so Work Choices is the Liberal Party's new Jesus, resurrected, rising from the dead.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/workchoices-still-dead--sort-of-abbott-20091214-kr3g.html
[...]
While new Liberal leader Tony Abbott has maintained "the phrase Work Choices" is dead, he also believes aspects of the old legislation should be reinstated.
[...]


And people tried to tell me Tony Abbott wasn't that bad. He can take his fascist useless slave labour policy and his messiah, sharpen them and insert them both deep between his ribs.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/queensland/a/-/latest/6579797/full-moon-has-werewolf-effect-study/

[...]
Leonie Calver, a clinical research nurse in toxicology, said almost a quarter of the cases (23 per cent) occurred on a night of full moon and this was double the number for other lunar phases.
[...]

I just heard David Kosh on Sunrise call Tony Abbot an arch conservative, particularly highlighting abortion and womens' rights as issues.

I didn't think I'd even hear anyone in the mainstream media be so explicit about the threat to mainstream secular Australian values posed by The Right Reprehensible Cardinal George Pell's favourite argyle knit political mouthpiece.

This after airing debate about the Commonwealth's renewed funding of school Chaplains (almost all from the Bible Society).

What strange days we live in.

Danny Nalliah loaded a bunch of his foolowers into a bus and headed off on the 8 hour trip to Canberra to drive out the Witches. If anyone else turned up, it was a handful, giving a total turnout for this exercise in spiritual warfare of about 60.

There to oppose them were a motley little knot of Pagans, GLBT activists and The Australian Sex Party. They garnered about 60, many locals.

There was also a crowd of spectators, maybe 60 strong.

For more
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/what-the-hex-is-going-on-in-canberra-20091018-h2i5.html

I'm somewhat is disturbed by the "latest"* moral panic in todays newspapers and TV... Shag Bracelets. People need to read Snopes, especially journalists.

http://www.snopes.com/risque/school/bracelet.asp


* By latest I mean first identified in the wild in 2003 of course.

Here's the deal:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

I've tagged things I know nothing about (???) because this list is American.

Venison
Nettle Tea
Huevos rancheros (???)
Steak tartare
Crocodile
Black pudding (Food of the Gods* (Well English gods))
Cheese fondue
Carp
Borscht
Baba ghanoush (???)
Calamari
Pho (???)
PB&J sandwich (I loath peanut butter)
Aloo gobi (???)
Hot dog from a street cart
Epoisses (???)
Black truffle (Foul stuff, never again.)
Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
Steamed pork buns
Pistachio ice cream (Pistachio tastes like arse to me)
Heirloom tomatoes (Tomato = heartburn!!!!)
Fresh wild berries Thimble berries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries
(None are native in Australia but some are found as weeds)
Foie gras
Rice and beans (???)
Brawn, or head cheese (Especially as English Pork pies)
Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
Dulce de leche (???)
Oysters
Baklava
Bagna cauda (???)
Wasabi peas
Clam chowder (Do *not* like)
Salted lassi (???)
Sauerkraut
Root beer float (I tasted rootbeer once, let's just say I'm glad it isn't common in Australia)
Cognac
Clotted cream
Vodka jelly
Gumbo
Oxtail
Curried goat (Spiced as kebab meat but never curried)
Whole insects
Phaal (???)
Goat’s milk
Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
Fugu
Chicken tikka masala
Eel
Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (KK have just started open in Oz, none near me)
Sea urchin
Prickly pear (Both fruit and leaves)
Umeboshi (???)
Abalone
Paneer (???)
McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
Spaetzle (???)
Dirty gin martini
Beer above 8% ABV
Poutine
Carob chips
S’mores (???)
Sweetbreads
Kaolin (As a medicine)
Currywurst
Durian
Frogs’ legs
Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (???)
Haggis
Fried plantain
Chitterlings, or andouillette (???)
Gazpacho (Tomato gives me heartburn)
Caviar and blini (No idea what blini is/are, but caviar is rancid muck)
Louche absinthe
Gjetost, or brunost (???)
Roadkill (Snake, pub carpark, about 1970)
Baijiu (???)
Hostess Fruit Pie (???)
Snail
Lapsang souchong (No Tea or Coffee for me, BLEAH!)
Bellini (???)
Tom yum (???)
Eggs Benedict
Pocky
Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
Kobe beef
Hare
Goulash
Flowers (various, but love deep fried zuccini flowers)
Horse (Not available in Australia)
Criollo chocolate (???)
Spam
Soft shell crab (???)
Rose harissa (???)
Catfish
Mole poblano (???)
Bagel and lox (???)
Lobster Thermidor
Polenta
Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee (No Tea or Coffee for me, BLEAH!)
Snake (Fresh roadkill, pub carpark, about 1970)

Churches debut annoying advertisements to "sell" Jesus. (Don't get me started on the theological wrongness of the one I've seen so far.)

Campaign to mass-marketing [sic] Jesus Christ
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,26035190-7582,00.html

Churches put faith in advertising
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26036008-2,00.html


Australia experiences Earthquakes, Hail Storms, Bush Fires, Floods, oh, and The Skies of Sydney are Bleeding! Well, a dust storm has turned the morning into murky red twilight.

Wild weather: quakes, hail, fires, dust
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/22/2693608.htm

Monster dust storm blankets Sydney
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/23/2693643.htm


As the Little Church of the Holy Dollar are always claiming the good stuff (like drought breaking rain after prayers) will they now take the blame for this interesting coincidence of advertising campaign launch and the weather nation wide going Old Testament...

I'm trying to keep track of the borders of the new republics hanging from the underside of the US body politic like ticks.

So far I the list is:

Wingnutistan
Trailerparkistan
Redneckistan

I'm sure my USonian friends can point me at others...

http://www.clientcopia.com/quotes.php?id=1337

Words fail me.

http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/computers/macbook-cracks-threaten-to-upset-apple-cart-20090805-e9fj.html

My GF and I bought a matched pair of white Macbooks In December 2007, within weeks they both developed cracks around the keyboard decks. Apple refused to fix them. They did replace a mainboard and a HDD or two, but not the bloody cracked cases that keep trying to slit our wrists.

Bastards.

Also her battery compartment catch died, both developed the "insomnia" bug, etc ad nauseam. Hers had the keyboard die, so is now a desktop with an external mouse and keyboard.

Neither has ever successfully recorded a DVD, also apparently not a fault or at least not covered by warrantee.

Lovely OS nice machines apart from that.

The design philosophy seems to be "It doesn't matter, they new colours come out for Spring, they'll buy the next model before most develop the fault."