caeron

There really was no proof that it was the vaccines. It was built on a bunch of speculation. The sad part is that the hysteria they generated (and still do) over the vaccines has caused a lot of gullible parents not to vaccinate. It's both sad and infuriating.

Today the court ruled that there is no proven link between autism and getting vaccinated. http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/12/court.autism.reactions/ I've been following this case because it plays to a particular pet peeve of mine, namely stupid people reaching dumb conclusions, then pretending it's science. Don't get me wrong, Autism sucks. No doubt in the desperate attempt to find an explanation, many parents had decided, with no evidence, that getting vaccinated causes autism. Why? Because these kids got vaccinated and then developed autism! Never mind that autism's onset is typically at the age you vaccinate, clearly there had to be a causal linkage! Quoting from the article above: "Fournier said her daughter was a happy, healthy toddler who developed autism after receiving shots. She said she's heard countless similar stories from other parents." Well, of course you did. Did you ask, if by chance, their children also were breathing before developing autism? What about potty training? Maybe learning not to poo themselves set it off? Why, oh why, did you become insanely fixated upon this as THE answer. When studies didn't confirm this, why did you fault the study rather than your hasty conclusion? I wonder how much more progress could have been made if people had looked at the science objectively. /rant off

I think that much driving would have exhausted me. How many hours is it? Though cute boys disrobing in the back seats would have probably been a suitable distraction if I could avoid ending up in a ditch. Is it it really that expensive to fly? I guess if you have enough bodies it's cheaper to drive.

I think if you make the blindness off limits, you're dehumanizing those who are worse than making jokes about it. Like it's so horrible that it should only be spoken of in hushed whispers and with looks of pity. When it becomes the fodder for jokes, then it's just another thing about you, like ex Illinois governor Blago's hair. The jokes might have been tacky or crass, but I don't see how making the subject off-limits is doing the blind any favors.

I spent the day on a plane flying to San Antonio where I spent today doing annoying edits to a speech that gets delivered tomorrow. After that, I get to look around the city and have some fun... Riverwalk here is lovely (though I picked a total loser of a restaurant.)

I wouldn't be surprised if Sean Penn wins best actor as the Academy's apology for snubbing Brokeback Mountain (I haven't seen it yet, so I'm not implying he's undeserving). They seem to do that sort of thing.

I've never really gotten the appeal of these shows. What is it about it that you love? I enjoy project runway, where it's about demonstrating skill and creativity (in an admittedly pretty artificial environment). But reality shows like Survivor just seem like soap operas without script writers. Am I missing something?

Crazy cheap eats around Me is costco, but it isn't a real restaurant. Still hard to argue with a 1/4lb hot dog and soda for 1.50. Wish they had a better selection, but I guess that's part of the whole crazy price thing. There is an Ikea, but a 30 minute drive each way takes the fun out of a 99 cent breakfast....

I think Slumdog Millionaire is a shoo-in. It's the kind of bubblegum feel good movie the academy adores. Don't get me wrong, it is a great movie, just that the others aren't feel-good like it is. I think it's this year's crash.

I agree. This is such a horrific breach of trust that to just serve 87 months seems way too lenient. I hope the court rejects the plea deal, though I doubt they will.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13jud...tml?_r=1&em Here is an unbelievable case about a couple of judges who cut a deal with a private company to run juvenile detention in their area... then proceeded to ship out tons of innocent kids to up the money that these companies got in exchange for kickbacks. This story seems like something out of some southern chain gang horror movie.

An amusing link to Bonobo sexuality: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?arti...281474976769203 Highlights include: "Male Bonobo do what is called 'penis-fencing,' in which two male Bonobo apes hang on a branch, face-to-face, while rubbing their erect penises together. In Bonobo society, this kind of same-sex behavior is regarded as another form of pleasurable sexual activity; sexual activity among the Bonobo is engaged in both for reproduction and for pleasure. Still with me? Bonobo apes also French kiss, engage in cunnilingus and fellatio and massage one another's genitals."

I think this contest, btw, must be from the style invitational: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5032501843.html I used to make this a weekly visit, and even won a few of the silly prizes. Some of the contests are great fun for people who like word games.

You make me wish upon a star That you'll get run over by a car. A kiss from you makes me quiver, Why did you have to have the liver?

I'm a season ticket holder here in portland, and they almost always produce mainstream stuff. Too bad, this sounds like it would be a stitch. The one good thing about the portland opera is that they do one chamber opera a year. An entirely different experience to have these intimate operas in a very small venue!

To date, I've had no complaints about the civility of debate here. I have no idea how much moderating actually goes on, but it seems to be working to me.

According to his wikipedia, he was 17 when the film was shot. I thought he was older. I'm surprised our freaky society didn't ban the movie as child porn.

Probably, but somehow I have a hard time imagining he blackmailed 7 students into sex without any of them complaining. And to have apparently collected nude shots of another 31. Maybe I'm naive, but I'm guessing some number of them weren't really complaining until the cops showed up and asked "Did he make you let him suck your dick?" The sensational stuff always splashes big. The rest of the story doesn't tend to.

This story doesn't read like the whole truth to me. I think there is more to it.

http://www.npr.org/templates/stations/stations/ lets you look up stations on-line streams. I listen to Oregon Public Broadcasting's stream at: http://www.opb.org/programs/streams/ I disagree about the sirius/xm merger being bad, I think this bankruptcy proves it. They weren't competing with each other, they were competing with regular and HD radio, ipods and the like. If there were still separate, this would have happened even earlier.

I like Dolly. Stealing from a couple of internet sites to refresh my memory -When asked her opinion of gay marriage, Dolly said joking that 'gay people should have the right to be as miserable as married straight people are.' and she helped produce the academy award winning Common Threads documentary on the AIDS quilt "Above all, Dolly is honest. She is the first to say that, like many of us, the emergence of the AIDS pandemic was foreign to her. "As you probably know, I came from the country in East Tennessee, and I suppose I was as naive and ignorant as anyone," Dolly says. "When I went to Los Angeles, I became best friends with my manager, Sandy Gallin, who is gay. Many of Sandy’s associates, friends, and creative teams were gay people. They are some of the finest, most creative folks there are. "Because I became friends with many of them–like Steve Rubell of Studio 54…in New York–it wasn’t long before I learned firsthand of the devastating impact of AIDS," she says. "I have lost many dear friends from it…both gay and heterosexual. That’s when I really began to understand and get involved in the fight." And get involved she did, though, in characteristic Dolly fashion, she downplays her own good works. "My Sandollar Productions Company [named for both Sandy (Gallin) and Dolly] was responsible for the public awareness production of the Common Threads quilt program that traveled all over the nation," Dolly says. "I guess I could have been more prominently involved, but I helped. It was Howard Rosenman, Carol Baum, and Sandy that really led the project."

Furries I'd heard of. Clown fetish I've heard of. But Ballons and sneezes are new ones for me. But in the interest in keeping the thread going: http://www.doubleviking.com/bullet-points-...hes-6984-p.html Gut Flopping and Dinner Smashing both made me laugh.

But he sure doesn't! I think she's started to look like a goat as she's aged. I must get to Brazil this year.

I love the Frick. I think it's my favorite Museum in NYC. It's such a cool venue for a museum. It's in Henry Clay Frick's mansion for those who don't know.

I listen to NPR streaming at work, but have never tried this "make your own radio station" Sounds very intriguing, I'll have to try it. Thanks for the tip.