Got a few minutes, and brain cells, to kill?
I think I agree with them, they’re to under-evolved to be kin to the monkeys for sure!
FDA Warns Consumers to Avoid Vita Breath Dietary Supplement
READ THE FULL RELEASE AT FDA.GOV
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising consumers not to purchase nor consume Vita Breath, a dietary supplement manufactured by American Herbal Lab Inc. of Rosemead, Calif., and marketed at health fairs and on the Internet, because the product may contain hazardous levels of lead.
The FDA was notified by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene about a patient with lead poisoning who reported taking Vita Breath and two other herbal products. The department analyzed a sample of Vita Breath and reported it contained 1,100 parts per million of lead. This level is more than 10,000 times higher than FDA’s maximum recommended level for lead in candy.
Are childhood vaccines mandatory?
READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY AT VACCINE CENTRAL
Are parents forced to vaccinate their children? Are vaccines mandatory in the U.S.? This is a question that worries many parents, and it is a claim that is made very confidently by many in the anti-vaccine crowd, and it appears the answer is yes, and no. The CDC has a recommended immunization schedule that most pediatricians follow. That schedule is not mandatory and many parents work with their pediatricians to come up aith alternate schedules, even though they may be going against their pediatrician’s advice when they choose to do that.
Nevertheless, we don’t live in isolation in a mountain top; we live in a society which has rules to protect the whole, and vaccines are no exception. Most states require children to be up to date with their vaccination schedule in order to attend day care centers or public schools (I am not sure how private schools handle this, so for the sake of the argument let us assume they follow the same guidelines as public ones). Those same states, on the other hand, provide opportunities for parents to exempt their children from the vaccination requirements. In this entry we will review the legal requirements, and what exemptions are available to parents when it comes to vaccinating their children.
The best sources of information in regards to this issue that I have been able to find are reports prepared for the U.S. Congress by the Congressional Research Service, CRS, a think tank that provides reports to members of Congress on a variety of topics relevant to current political events, whose mission statement reads as such:
CRS is committed to supporting an informed national legislature — by developing creative approaches to policy analysis, anticipating legislative needs and responding to specific requests from legislators in a timely manner. With a rigorous adherence to our key values, CRS provides analysis that is authoritative, confidential, objective and nonpartisan.
The CRS prepared reports titled “Mandatory Vaccinations: Precedent and Current Laws” which seem to have been compiled by different attorneys at different points in time. For example I found this one, dated 10/26/09 by Kathleen S. Swendiman; this one from Angie A. Welborn last updated on 01-18-05. A couple of earlier versions of Swendiman’s report can also be found at the opencrs website. Keep in mind that these are reports compiled by attorneys and were provided to the U.S. Congress, as such I consider the information in here to be of the highest quality. So what do these reports say about mandatory vaccinations?
Climate Change and the Integrity of Science
READ THE REST OF THE LETTER AT SCIENCEMAG.ORG
We are deeply disturbed by the recent escalation of political assaults on scientists in general and on climate scientists in particular. All citizens should understand some basic scientific facts. There is always some uncertainty associated with scientific conclusions; science never absolutely proves anything. When someone says that society should wait until scientists are absolutely certain before taking any action, it is the same as saying society should never take action. For a problem as potentially catastrophic as climate change, taking no action poses a dangerous risk for our planet.
Scientific conclusions derive from an understanding of basic laws supported by laboratory experiments, observations of nature, and mathematical and computer modeling. Like all human beings, scientists make mistakes, but the scientific process is designed to find and correct them. This process is inherently adversarial—scientists build reputations and gain recognition not only for supporting conventional wisdom, but even more so for demonstrating that the scientific consensus is wrong and that there is a better explanation. That’s what Galileo, Pasteur, Darwin, and Einstein did. But when some conclusions have been thoroughly and deeply tested, questioned, and examined, they gain the status of “well-established theories” and are often spoken of as “facts.”
For instance, there is compelling scientific evidence that our planet is about 4.5 billion years old (the theory of the origin of Earth), that our universe was born from a single event about 14 billion years ago (the Big Bang theory), and that today’s organisms evolved from ones living in the past (the theory of evolution). Even as these are overwhelmingly accepted by the scientific community, fame still awaits anyone who could show these theories to be wrong. Climate change now falls into this category: There is compelling, comprehensive, and consistent objective evidence that humans are changing the climate in ways that threaten our societies and the ecosystems on which we depend.
Activists: Mother, son albinos killed in Burundi
READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT SEATTLE TIMES
NAIROBI, Kenya —
Attackers in Burundi chopped off the limbs of a 5-year-old albino boy and pulled out his mother’s eye, killing them over the belief that their body parts would bring wealth and success, human rights activists said Friday.
Those deaths and other recent attacks in Tanzania are part of long pattern of violence against African albinos. At least 10,000 have been displaced or gone into hiding since attacks against them spiked in late 2007, the International Federation of the Red Cross says.
Since then, 57 albinos have been killed in Tanzania and 14 in Burundi, said Vicky Ntetema with the rights group Under The Same Sun.
The killings are fueled by superstitious beliefs that human albino body parts will bring others wealth and success, Ntetema said.
“Body parts are sought for their supposed miraculous powers,” she said. “Some use them as human sacrifice as advised by witch doctors.”
African albinos endure insults and segregation throughout their lives, and face greater discrimination than Western albinos because they live in darker-skinned communities. They also have a high risk of contracting skin cancer in a region where many jobs are outdoors.
Ten assailants armed with guns and grenades killed Desire Vyegura, 5, and his mother, Susann Vyegura, in Burundi on Monday, said Kassim Kazungu, head of the Burundi Albino Association.
Both victims had their limbs chopped off. Attackers also pulled out one of Desire’s eyes and chopped off his mother’s breasts, Kazungu said. The attack took place in Cankunko village in the Cendajuru district, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of the capital city, Bujumbura.
Poland and the rape of human rights
A polish singer faces a fine and up to two years in prison for…..blasphemy! Yeah, she does not hold the Bible in high regard and made the, possibly very correct, remark that “it is hard to believe in something written by people who drank too much wine and smoked herbal cigarettes.” And that got the Christians really, really, upset and they’re looking to burn her, not literally, but you get the point.
“It is clear that Doda thinks that the Bible was written by drunkards and junkies,” said Ryszard Nowak, chairman of the Committee for the Defence Against Sects, an organisation dedicated to protecting Christian values. “I believe that she committed a crime and offended the religious feelings of both Christians and Jews.” If found guilty the pop star faces a two-year jail sentence or a hefty fine under Polish blasphemy laws.
No dear, Ryszard whatever the freak your name is, you and your buddies are the ones committing the crime here. You have tackled human rights to the ground, and are raping and pissing all over them. Your retarded sensibilities and your arrogant sense of righteous indignation are on par with the most vile, islamic terrorist, bullshit hurt feelings. You are a bunch of idiots and assholes, who value a 2,000 year old book written by people who drank too much wine and smoked all kinds of weed, more than a person’s right to free speech. Not only are you stupid, but you want to legislate stupidity so other people can’t call you out on it. Well guess what assholes, welcome to the Streisand Effect. Congratulations, you’ve just managed to take something that most people probably didn’t even remember and turned into an internet phenomenon. How many more people will refer you your book of fairy tales as something written by people who drank too much wine and smoked herbal cigarettes now?
So how long has the child-rape problem existed in the church?
Well they want to blame it on modernity. This video begs to differ! Oh and look at that, the video cites actual documents we can check out for ourselves. Yay!
Tim Minchin’s greatest hit ever?
I am late to the game, but only last night I had a chance to catch up with Tim Minchin’s latest hit, The Pope Song, and boy did I enjoy it. It’s such a catchy tune I’m afraid I’m gonna get in trouble at work for singing it under my breath. Once you hear it, you’ll know why.
Fuck the motherfucker
Fuck the motherfucker
Fuck the motherfucker
He’s a fucking motherfucker
Fuck the motherfucker
Fuck the fucking fucker
Fuck the motherfucker
He’s a total fucking fucker
Fuck the motherfucker
Fuck the motherfucker
Fuck the motherfucker
Fucking fuck the motherfucker
Fuck the motherfucker
Fuck the motherfucking Pope
Fuck the motherfucker
And fuck you motherfucker
If you think that motherfucker is sacred
If you cover for another motherfucker who’s a kiddie fucker
Fuck you, you’re no better than the motherfucking rapist
And if you don’t like the swearing that this motherfucker forced from me
And reckon that it shows moral or intellectual paucity
Then fuck you motherfucker, this is language one employs
When one is fucking cross about fuckers fucking boys
I don’t give a fuck if calling the Pope a motherfucker
Means you unthinkingly brand me an unthinking apostate
This has naught to do with other fucking godly motherfuckers
I’m not interested right now in fucking scriptural debate
There are other fucking songs and there are other fucking ways
I’ll be a religious apologist on other fucking days
But the fact remains, if you protect a single kiddie fucker
Then Pope or prince or plumber, you’re a fucking motherfucker
You see I don’t give a fuck what any other motherfucker
Believes about Jesus and his motherfucking mother
And I’ve no problem with the spiritual beliefs of all these fuckers
While those beliefs don’t impact on the happiness of others
But if you build a church on claims of fucking moral authority
And with threats of hell impose it on others in society
Then you, you motherfuckers, could expect some fucking wrath
When it turns out you’ve been fucking us in our motherfucking asses
So fuck the motherfucker
And fuck you, motherfucker if you’re still a motherfucking papist
If he covered for a single motherfucker who’s a kiddie fucker
Fuck the motherfucker, he’s as evil as the rapist
And if you look into your motherfucking heart and tell me true
If this motherfucking stupid fucking song offended you
With its filthy fucking language and it’s fucking disrespect
If it made you feel angry, go ahead and write a letter
But if you find me more offensive than the fucking possibility
That the Pope protected priests when they were getting fucking fiddly
Then listen to me, motherfucker, this here is a fact:
You are just as morally misguided as that motherfucking
Power-hungry, self-aggrandized bigot in the stupid fucking hat
Giving credit where credit is not due
I ran across this Samuel L. Jackson story about his troubles with back pain. It turns out he had to get an epidural to finish shooting SWAT, and had to have back surgery after the filming was over.
“When I was doing S.W.A.T. I woke up one morning… I couldn’t move. I rolled out of bed, crawled to the bathroom, I took, like, eight Advil (painkillers) and eventually I ended up getting an epidural so I could finish the movie,” he explained. “Then two days after the movie was over they discovered I had a cyst on my sciatica so they plucked that off and I was done, I could walk. Then last year I ended up with a crushed nerve between my L4 and L5, so I have what’s known as a coflex device which is a titanium piece built like a seat and is clamped to the upper phalange and the lower phalanges so when I bend forward it opens and when I bend backwards it closes so I can still turn fully without getting fused. So I’ve had a couple of back things.”
It’s always nice to see stories of actual science-based medicine helping people, and it doesn’t hurt when a celebrity sings its praises. But then, the article had to close with this:
The 61-year-old now relies on acupuncture to keep himself in shape, saying he can’t get enough of the practice. “It’s one of my favourite things. I get it all the time, like twice a week, for my well being,” he told American talk show host Ellen Degeneres. “I just go and get my ‘waa’ put in place, and get everything moving.”
*Sigh* Samuel, Samuel…Samuel! Why? Acupuncture is bunk; acupuncture did not come to your help when you really needed it; in fact, acupuncture could not have helped you with your back problems (check out a few studies I link to in my Important Studies page). Why is it that all these alt med modalities can’t seem to help with anything that can be objectively measured, such as the problem you had when shooting SWAT for example? Why is it that it is only those very subjective things that acupuncture seems to help with?
Samuel, I know money is not an issue for you, but still I urge you to stop wasting it. Donate it to charity instead; trust me it will make you feel better.
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