January 6, 2016::End of the day round-up

King Crocoduck's closing remark is a bit apropos considering a discussion held the other night concerning my delving into the fallacies behind the "Tornado in a Junkyard" analogy. I had stated that instead of doing "real" science in regards to ID, the proponents sit back and "just think up" counter arguments regardless of whether science supports those views. Best example is Behe and his testimony during Dover v Kitmiller (2005) where he admitted under oath 'that evolution could not explain immunology without even investigating the subject. He was presented with 58 peer reviewed articles, nine books, and several textbook chapters on the subject; he insisted they were 'not good enough.'"

Here's what KC had to say to his adversary [6:26], spawned from the misapplication of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics - nothing can not be greater than something.

Your pretension that your philosophical ponderings on causality are even remotely comparable to the rigor and discipline required to understand the subject under discussion.

,,,[Lots of sciencey, mathey terms that blew right over my head and I wouldn't be able to spell if my life depended on it]

This is the arrogance that underlies creationism. This notion that a layperson, can sit back and idly think about a discipline that takes years to understand much less master and disprove it with facile simple minded arguments.

Sweet Justice?: Bakery Owners Finally Pay Fine For Discriminating Against Lesbian Couple

“Aaron and Melissa Klein are devoted to honoring God in every aspect of their lives, including how they conduct themselves in this litigation. Oregon law requires that as they appeal the Oregon government’s decision denying them their First Amendment rights, they must either pay the amount imposed by the Oregon government, or obtain a bond for the amount of the judgment,” Smith said. “The least expensive option to stay in compliance with the law was to pay the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries funds that will be kept in a separate account until they prevail in their court appeal.”
,,,
The Oregonian reports that the Kleins paid a total of $144,000 to the state this month; that figure includes accrued interest for their refusal to pay it earlier. At the time, they claimed they simply couldn’t afford the fine---even though they’d raised approximately $517,000 from various crowdfunding sites in order to cover the debt. “It's difficult to understand the Kleins’ unwillingness to pay the debt when they have, very publicly, raised nearly a half million dollars,” a labor bureau spokesman said in an October statement.

Despite that windfall, they say they’ve suffered for their refusal to bake the cake. Aaron Klein claims he was forced to work as a garbage collector after they closed their storefront location, and vandals broke into the business’ branded car twice.

We Want Debunk (1) : The Alkaline Diet

If you remember I touched on the acid/alkaline mythos last month. Guerilla Girl attacks from a bit different angle:

The website acidalkalinediet.net says that acid-forming diets are the cause of acidosis and the major cause of diseases like cancer, diabetes, and stroke. This is a red flag of pseudoscientific theories: several different diseases are attributed to one cause. The truth is that each disease is unique and has a unique cause. For the purposes of this post, I’ll talk briefly about acidosis and cancer.
,,,
While it’s certainly true that fruits and vegetables are good for you, it’s because they are nutrient-dense, not because they are alkaline forming. The alkaline diet seems very restrictive to me – it’s basically a raw vegan diet (oooh, another diet to debunk!). I have no problem with ethical vegans, but the vegan diet takes some work to do in a healthy way (see Ginny Messina, RD for more information). Most of the foods on the acid-forming list can be beneficial – fish, dairy, grains, legumes, even caffeine has nutrients and proven health benefits. It seems like restrictive diets are increasingly popular, and there is growing concern that they can lead to disordered eating.

The "disordered eating" issue is one I may tackle some time in the near future.

Pat Robertson: Beat non-religious kids on Christmas until they appreciate ‘blessings of discipline’

Robertson immediately recommended that the grandson should be taken “to the woodshed and let him understand the blessings of discipline.”

“He needs a strong male figure,” Robertson continued. “He’s going to wind up in a correctional institution, and the next thing you know, he’s going to be doing hard time in some prison. And then he would wish he wasn’t such a smart, you know, wise guy. Because he’ll be disciplined in a way that he’ll never forget in some prison.”

“He needs discipline in the worst possible way.”

In the end, the Christian Broadcasting Network founder recommended that the viewer avoid her daughter’s house on Christmas.

UPDATING: Alabama Chief Justice Issues Order Blocking Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

The Chief Justice of the Alabama State Supreme Court Wednesday morning issued an order to all probate judges to not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Judge Roy Moore claims a previous order issued by his court in March remains in effect, and warns those judges that they "have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary" to Alabama state law and its constitution.

Justice Moore, "said the conflict between the state court ruling and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June has caused 'confusion and uncertainty' among probate judges," AL.com reports.

The Decateur Daily adds that "Moore's order found that a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down laws banning same-sex marriage in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee did not necessarily affect Alabama's similar laws."

Ben Carson would consider banning gays from the military

“Well, I think the first priority again is cohesion, and the second priority would be that the commander-in-chief listen to the best military advice, so on a number of these social issues the best military advice has been thwarted and the administration has said, ‘Do this, do this, do this,’ apart from military and defense considerations as a priority,” said the general.

Tapper asked Carson if he agreed with the general’s remarks, Carson said:

“One of the things that I learned in a long medical career is that you make decisions based on evidence, and not on ideology. So, yes, I would be willing to sit down with people from both sides and examine the evidence and make decisions based on what the evidence shows.”

Nicol Simard of Atheism TV had the perfect response to Ben Carson

He be willing to sit down with people from both sides and examine the evidence and make decisions based on what the evidence shows? This is coming from a creationist? From someone who believes pyramids were build to store grain?

Please don't mind me while I roll on the floor laughing IN A PUDDLE OF MY OWN PISS because he made me pee myself, I laughed so hard.

Matt Carey offers a complete breakdown of the William Thompson debacle that began last year.


The William Thompson Documents. There’s no whistle to blow.

For those unfamiliar with the story of William Thompson, here’s a brief introduction. William Thompson is a CDC researcher who has worked on vaccine/autism studies. About 2 years ago he approached Brian Hooker (an autism parent and very vocal advocate for the idea that vaccines cause autism) stating that a statistically significant result was not only left out of an old study but that this represented not a scientific decision, but misconduct on the part of the CDC. It is worth noting that “statistically significant” is not the same as “proof of a connection”. Brian Hooker published his own analysis (incorrectly claimed as being the same as the CDC analysis method) in a now retracted paper. The result he presented was that there was an apparent increased risk of autism for one small subset of the study population: African American males, who were vaccinated not on schedule but before age 3.

There are some questions, of course, that this raises. Is this result very strong? Does the lack of inclusion in the paper represent scientific fraud or a legitimate scientific decision?

Those following the anti-vaxx movement are well aware of the stir this caused. Those outside the "bubble" should have been but the story was woefully under-reported.

The importance of what Matt didn't find: 1] The vaccines-cause-autism story is built on lies and it is very damaging. There has been nothing since the Kanner/Bettleheim “refrigerator parent” idea that has caused so much damage to our community. And that is the real story here. A group of people perpetuating a failed idea by carefully crafting a story.

In other words maybe now this trope can finally be laid to rest and science can concentrate on what it does best.   "And they [referring to Hooker and Wakefield] still aren’t calling for better services better diagnosis in these underserved groups. Instead they are just trying to recruit as many parents as they into the vaccines-cause-autism camp. Imagine being convinced, wrongly, that you participated in injuring your own child. The charlatans who prey on our community with fake–and sometimes abusive–therapies rely on the vaccine/autism idea for the majority of their business."

2] Science wins!!

I really should have written more about this debacle,,,sigh!!

Science deniers use false equivalence to create fake debates

This article is #3 of the 12 most popular posts on Skeptical Raptor during 2015. This article discusses how science deniers employ false equivalence to create fake debates.

If you read a news article, Google a scientific topic, or watch TV, you’d think that some scientific principles were actually being debated by scientists. The unfiltered information about important scientific subjects allows the science deniers to use a false equivalence to make it appear that the often minority, and scientifically unsupported viewpoint is equivalent to the scientific consensus which is based on huge amounts of published evidence.

From listening to the screaming and yelling, you would think that scientists aren’t sure about evolution, vaccines, global warming, and the age of the earth (or even the age of the universe). There are even those who think there’s a debate that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS. It’s because some news sources think there’s a debate, so bring one person to represent one side, and one for the other, and the person screams the loudest often wins.

An anti-equality faith healer is trying to build a mega-complex in San Diego

Morris Cerullo, an 84-year-old evangelical mega-church pastor and self-proclaimed faith healer and miracle worker, is proposing an 18.1-acre mega-church complex in the city of San Diego, California.

Cerullo, who was convicted for falsifying tax documents between 1998 and 2000, a conviction overturned on a technicality in 2007, has been flying under the radar in the city with this proposal that would include a religious retreat, underground catacombs, a Jerusalem-style Wailing Wall, an outdoor amphitheater and bazaar, a TV studio, and timeshare units for his followers.

The complex would be built on the site of the San Diego Resort Hotel complex which Cerullo recently purchased.

Catholic Bishops In Kenya Call For A Boycott Of Polio Vaccines : Goats and Soda : NPR

Africa will mark one year without polio on Tuesday. The last case was in Somalia in 2014.

But last week, a polio vaccination campaign in Kenya faced an unlikely opponent: The country's Conference of Catholic Bishops declared a boycott of the World Health Organization's vaccination campaign, saying they needed to "test" whether ingredients contain a derivative of estrogen. Dr. Wahome Ngare of the Kenyan Catholic Doctor's Association alleged that the presence of the female hormone could sterilize children.

Ngare is a practicing gynecologist with no infectious disease experience.

He raises the specter of eugenics — sterilizing segments of human populations. He put forth other objections as well: "There are all sorts of stories out there," he told me. "Vaccines can cause autism. Vaccines have been used for spread of HIV. There are some cancer-causing viruses that you'd find in vaccines. So there are lot of stories. Some of them we don't know whether they're true or not true."

I pointed out to him that research has shown that claims of vaccines being linked to autism and HIV and cancer are in fact not true.

His response: "We could debate this forever."

Catholic Bishops In Kenya Call For A Boycott Of Polio Vaccines : Goats and Soda : NPR

Addicting Info – The MMR Shot Seriously Hurt This Woman’s Son– Here’s Her Opinion Of Vaccines Today

When the anti-vaxxers bring out their fears about the side effects of vaccines, and use that as justification to not vaccinate, they’re not just ignoring science. They’re also ignoring the fact that the diseases against which vaccines protect can be devastating, and they will affect far more children than those who suffer rare side effects and complications of vaccines.

Besides that, to vaccinate, or not, isn’t a decision that affects just the one family making the decision. It affects society as a whole. This is not the same as the decision to feed your child canned fruit or fresh, send him to public school or private, or things like that which are, and should remain, a parent’s choice. A child who can be vaccinated, but isn’t, puts those who cannot be vaccinated at risk. They also put those for whom vaccinations were less than effective at risk. In the end, the decision not to vaccinate, based on bad science and unfounded claims, is a very selfish one.

Liz Savage gets it. She doesn’t just get it for her own child, but for everyone else out there who is protected because of her decision. Her son suffered a rare, serious complication from his vaccines, and she chose to go ahead with his vaccination schedule, instead of becoming an anti-vaxxer. The anti-vaxxers could take a lesson from her.

Addicting Info – The MMR Shot Seriously Hurt This Woman’s Son– Here’s Her Opinion Of Vaccines Today

Vaccines Developed to Fight Foodborne Illness - Scientific American

Food-borne viruses, bacteria and protozoa caused some 582 million cases of intestinal infection and 351,000 deaths in 2010, according to new figures from the  (WHO).

The agency, which released the data on April 2, recommends common-sense measures to lessen the health and economic toll of illnesses caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites and chemicals in food. These steps include improving basic sanitation, building government capacity to track cases of foodborne illness, and ensuring that health workers are trained and equipped to treat the sick.

Efforts are now accelerating to complement such tactics by developing vaccines against some common foodborne microbes. Takeda, a pharmaceutical firm based in Osaka, Japan, is testing a potential vaccine against norovirus in phase II clinical trials, after researchers demonstrated its efficacy against several common viral strains. And the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of Seattle, Washington, has committed US$50 million since 2007 to a consortium seeking to develop vaccines against two foodborne bacteria, Shigella and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). The foundation plans to spend another $64 million on the programme to 2018.

Studies suggest that vaccination can produce immediate, cost-effective results and build immunity in a population, whereas sanitation programmes are harder to implement broadly and take longer to achieve modest improvements.

“We need vaccines to complement changes in water- and food-hygiene behaviour,” says Deborah Atherly, a health economist at PATH, a non-profit global-health organization in Seattle, Washington.


Vaccines Developed to Fight Foodborne Illness - Scientific American

The Black Death is back, and so are these other diseases you thought were gone

For those of us who live in the sanitized safety of our shiny, seemingly germ-free world of hand sanitizers, wet wipes and anti-bacterial everything, it's sometimes hard to imagine diseases that have been all but eradicated in the last few decades ever making a comeback.

At the beginning of the 20th century, life expectancy in the United States was 47 years, and today's newborns are expected to live 79 years.


However, in recent years, some of the deadly diseases that we thought were the stuff of history books are back with a vengeance in many parts of the world — and not just in developing countries.

Why are preventable diseases making a comeback?

[,,,]
So far, only one human disease has been completely eradicated: small pox. Now, we find ourselves battling outbreaks of diseases we thought we had defeated years ago. Here are some of them,,,

The Black Death is back, and so are these other diseases you thought were gone

Scammers bank on Ebola fears | Consumer Information

There are currently no FDA-approved vaccines or drugs to prevent or treat Ebola. Although there are experimental Ebola vaccines and treatments under development, these are in the early stages of product development, have not yet been fully tested for safety or effectiveness, and the supply is very limited. There are no approved vaccines, drugs, or products specifically for Ebola available for purchase online or in stores. No dietary supplements can claim to prevent or cure Ebola, according to the supplements industry. If you’ve seen companies or products touting these claims, report them to the FTC and FDA.

Scammers bank on Ebola fears | Consumer Information

Religious exemptions to vaccines shouldn't exist | Finding Faith, Finding Home

An interesting read as I never quite knew how one could "justify" the anti-vac position biblically. As Stone points out, you can't (definitely something to explore,,,hmm).

One comment that struck me: "By the way, this summer being the centennial of the outbreak of World War I, it may be interesting to note that the U.S. Army lost more men to the 1918 flu than it did to German guns."
__
“God Does Not Support Vaccines” is a remarkable example of scaremongering. The Big, Bad Government, Megan alleges, is steadily chipping away at the religious exemption currently allowed by 48 states. When that happens, you’ll have to home school, but even then, you can’t rest, because They Will Be Coming For You.

In some states, religious exemptions are simple to get. In others, it’s more complicated. Iowa, for example, requires that the parent demonstrate that

“immunization conflicts with a genuine and sincere religious belief and that the belief is in fact religious, and not based merely on philosophical, scientific, moral, personal, or medical opposition to immunizations.”

(Twenty other states allow a “personal belief” exemption, meaning that parents can simply decide, for whatever reason, that they don’t want their kids vaccinated and that is that.)

Megan’s post, as the title suggests, seems an attempt to offer vaccine skeptics a “genuine and sincere” belief “that is in fact religious,” this despite the fact that, as Judge William F. Kuntz II of Brooklyn’s Federal District Court noted in January, SCOTUS decisions have 

“strongly suggested that religious objectors are not constitutionally exempt from vaccination.”

[,,,]
,,,Megan’s “religious” objections are founded on very shaky theological ground. She cites Genesis 1:31, the creation account, as ‘proof’ that vaccines contradict God’s will:

 “God saw all that he had made and ‘it was very good.’ God’s perfect. Nothing further needed.”

[,,,]
If you truly believe that vaccine-free is best, get on a plane with your kids and go to one of the countries where measles, mumps, diphtheria, and polio are not even close to eradicated. Then realize anyone from there can come into your community, your school, your church, your grocery store and start an outbreak — if not in you, than in the vulnerable people you come in contact with you. And if that truly doesn’t bother your conscience, you don’t deserve a religious exemption of any kind, since virtually every religion includes something like this: take care of others as you’d take care of yourself.

Religious exemptions to vaccines shouldn't exist | Finding Faith, Finding Home

VacciShield: Pixie dust for an imaginary threat « Science-Based Medicine

,,,Instead I’d like to focus on another part of the sCAM spectrum. Here lies a form of sCAM that, in some ways, is even more difficult for me to comprehend. These are products invented, marketed, and sold solely for the treatment or prevention of fictitious diseases or problems that exist only in the realm of fantasy.

A mother-naturopath by the name of Catherine Clinton has identified a little known condition that has launched her career as a producer and seller of one of the newest health-maintaining elixirs. At $27.99 USD for 1.36 ounces, she’s probably doing all right. It’s not a condition, exactly, that her elixir is aimed at. It’s more of a, well, I guess you can call it a state of unsupported peri-vaccination health, or something. In her own words, VacciShield was designed to “fill a gap that we saw in the vaccination process”. To be a little more specific, ND Clinton explains on her company’s website:

I became concerned about vaccinating my son and wanted another option to support him during vaccinations. I looked to the research to see if there was something I could do nutritionally to support health during this vulnerable time. So we created VacciShield to fill a gap that we saw in the vaccination process. VacciShield is designed for infants and kids to help support healthy brain, immune, gastrointestinal and detoxification function during vaccination.

The gap in the vaccination process she refers to is clearly something she found missing from her child’s routine pediatric care. A gap she has identified that, if not filled, places children at risk. At risk from what is not made clear anywhere on the company’s website. But since VacciShield is intended to support healthy brain, immune, gastrointestinal, and detoxifying function, I’m assuming she believes these body systems are at some sort of risk from vaccinations. Actually, it’s pretty clear what she’s referring to by her albeit vague terminology. And the name VacciShield is certainly not ambiguous. It is meant to shield children from the potentially damaging effects of vaccines, while still presumably allowing the benefits of the vaccines to slip through.

[,,,]
Based on the ingredients she has chosen to include in this product, and the references she cites in support of them, it seems that ND Clinton’s concerns about vaccinating her son are fueled by just about every vaccine myth out there, including Wakefield’s MMR-induced leaky gut-autism myth, the too-many too-soon gambit, the glutathione-deficiency vaccine-induced autism hypothesis, the thimerosal-induced neurotoxicity myth, the intestinal flora dysregulation and autism hypothesis, and probably others all thrown into the mix.


VacciShield: Pixie dust for an imaginary threat « Science-Based Medicine

Whooping cough bounces back | Science News

Very interesting history of Whooping Cough, its vaccine and repercussions,,,

Whooping cough has turned up in North America after decades of near absence, and we have only ourselves to blame.

In the last several years, the highly contagious microbe that causes whooping cough has spawned a string of outbreaks, adeptly piercing the shield of vaccination that once afforded solid protection against it. The last time whooping cough was this pervasive in the United States, Dwight Eisenhower was president and newscasters were smoking cigarettes on TV.

Caused by the Bordetella pertussis bacterium, whooping cough is emerging from the shadows in response to a fateful switch of vaccines embraced in the 1990s, just when it seemed the disease was licked. The vaccine used today has proved less potent than its predecessor. Meanwhile, curious changes are appearing in the pertussis bacterium itself, possibly in response to the weaker vaccine, and they may further undermine its effect. To top it off, a phobia against vaccines has induced some parents to skip or delay their kids’ shots, contributing to the disease’s spread.

“The newer vaccine’s protection wanes over time, the pathogen is morphing and more patients aren’t getting vaccinated on time,” says Jason Glanz, an epidemiologist at the University of Colorado Denver and the Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Research Colorado. “Put them together and you get greatly increased risk.”

Whooping cough bounces back | Science News

WICS NewsChannel 20 :: News - Top Stories - Measles Outbreak Spreads to Illinois

It's a disease that usually infects 60 people throughout the United States over the course of one year. But this year the number of measles cases has already more than doubled, and spread to people in 13 states, including Illinois.

There are only a handful of cases in the Land of Lincoln, the closest cases reported in Macomb.

But here's the thing: Doctors say measles is highly contagious and if you're not vaccinated there's a good chance you could add to the outbreak.

"So a lot of these old time diseases, we're starting to see a rise of all of them," Dr. Valarie Thompson of the Hospital Sisters Health System said.

The measles is the most recent.

WICS NewsChannel 20 :: News - Top Stories - Measles Outbreak Spreads to Illinois

11-year-old Hendersonville girl dies from flu | The Tennessean | tennessean.com

An 11-year-old Hendersonville girl has died of complications from the flu, according to family and hospital reports, and is the latest in a growing number of flu deaths that has public health officials worried.

Savannah Hyden died at 5:04 p.m. Wednesday at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, according to a hospital spokesman. She had not received a flu vaccination, her parents said.

[,,,]
Natasha Renee Fiser, her mother, said that after being sickened with the flu, Savannah developed a bacterial infection that resulted in cardiac arrest.

[,,,]
Hyden said he didn’t get the girl vaccinated because he was worried about side effects.

“It’s such a tough decision for the parent,” he said.

“You only think that’s for the weak and the elderly — those that don’t have the immunity to fight it off,” Fiser said. “You would never imagine that a healthy child really would need the flu shot at all.”

11-year-old Hendersonville girl dies from flu | The Tennessean | tennessean.com