Archive for July, 2009
The Anti-Vax Movement Turns Anti-Bix: Weetabix and Autism
Posted by Marsh in Media, Pseudomedicine, Public Health, vaccination on July 6, 2009
Jenny McCarthy is an idiot. Even better than that, she’s an American idiot, being idiotic over there in that America place. That’s not a good thing for America, fair enough – but at least it’s enough to give us that lovely sense of smug superiority that we English enjoy over our formerly-colonial brethren. ’Wheat and dairy make kids high,’ she says. ’Paediatricians know nothing‘. And then there’s:
“I do believe sadly it’s going to take some diseases coming back to realize that we need to change and develop vaccines that are safe. If the vaccine companies are not listening to us, it’s their fucking fault that the diseases are coming back. They’re making a product that’s shit. If you give us a safe vaccine, we’ll use it. It shouldn’t be polio versus autism“. Source: Time magazine, April 2009.
She even released a video to tell us all about it, replete with demonic smile and crazy crazy eyes – originally hosted on www.generationrescue.org (I’m not hyperlinking to them – call me petty), after a wave of criticism/ridicule it was taken down. Fortunately, this being the internet and all, nothing is ever lost – you can witness the McCarthy rant on youtube for yourself (part 1, part 2). Go ahead, I urge you, it’s nothing short of astounding. Oh that Miss McCarthy, she’s such a crazy yankie loon, we’d never get anything like that over here, not us smart and superior, many-sceptered-isle, green-and-pleasant-lands sorts.
So could somebody please tell that to the Daily Mail? Because, frankly, they’re letting the side down, and showing us up. ’I helped my son cope better with autism by changing his diet,’ the headline claims. The headline claims. The article itself actually tells a different story. Read the rest of this entry »
Atheism 101: Pascal’s Wager
Posted by Mike in Counter Apologetics, Religion, Skeptic 101 on July 1, 2009
Here at MSS HQ, we’re always looking for ways to grow and expand the group. Having guest speakers come down and talk to us is high on our list, as a big name from the world of science and skepticism is always going to draw more of a crowd than the promise of a pint with Marshall. Wonderful company though he is.
To this end, we’ve been compiling a short-list of people we’d love to invite down to talk to us. Some have spoken at “Skeptics in the Pub” events around the UK; some are just people we think it would be cool to hear speak about science. I was researching a guest from this latter category (to whom I shall refer only as John Smith) when I was met by two surprises in quick succession.
The first surprise was reading that John Smith apparently finds Pascal’s Wager to be a compelling argument. The second surprise was discovering that Marshall, our publicist, resident psychic-basher, and Skepchick-fan has no idea what Pascal’s Wager is.
Read the rest of this entry »
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