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12-year-old Vaccine-Autism Paper Retracted
Posted February 08, 2010 by Shakti Sombrero
In case you missed it, last week The Lancet retracted its 1998 paper about a link between vaccines and autism. This story has served as the bedrock for much of the vaccine quack argument for the past decade.
Now that it's been pulled out from under them like a rug, what do they have to say?
Jim Moody, a director of SafeMinds, a parents' group that advances the notion the vaccines cause autism, said the retraction would strengthen Dr. Wakefield's credibility with many parents.
"Attacking scientists and attacking doctors is dangerous," he said. "This is about suppressing research, and it will fuel the controversy by bringing it all up again."
Legitimately evaluating a controversial theory to make sure it stands up to scrutiny is "suppressing research"? Makes no sense to me, but what do I know? I've been brainwashed by the medical establishment.
2012: The Movie
Posted August 31, 2009 by Shakti Sombrero
A new disaster movie based on the coming 2012 Mayan apocalypse? From the makers of The Day After Tomorrow??? How can we lose?????????????
Wait here's a fun game. Watch these two trailers and see if you can figure out which one is the real one. Yeah, I couldn't either.
Yeti Found In Russia! (On Google Maps)
Posted April 15, 2009 by Indoles Eastlund
Our comrades in Russia claim to have found the elusive Yeti's home. They used Google.
Utilizing the latest technology (8 to 10 year old, low quality imagery from Google Maps) scientists from a Russian hick town believe...
Five thousand years ago yetis settled down in this cave and now their descendants are still living here. The conditions in the cave are suitable for yeti. The cave defends them from rains, snow and wind. There is also a lake in the middle of the cave where yetis can find clean water.
After apparently seeing Yeti's footprints on the imagery, they trekked to the cave area to find TWO sets of footprints. One set was from 5,000 years ago and the other was "fresh". I'd like to know why we can never find any Yeti dung near these footprints or in these caves. Do Yetis not relieve themselves, at least occasionally, over the course of five millennia? How about some bones or hair? We could give this story more credence with ANY kind of tangible proof of actual abominable inhabitants. The scientists plan another trip this summer; however, without snow, there may be considerably less footprints in the area.
Why no pictures comrade?
They say their snowmobiles were too noisy and yetis had to hide somewhere in the forests.
Ah, of course.
Deal Of The Day: Ghost Repeller
Posted March 21, 2009 by Shakti Sombrero
These days the latest shopping craze is the deal-a-day website: every day a hot new bargain in hot new limited quantities. Will it be a stylish dragon t-shirt? A new VR helmet? A bag filled with sticks? The anticipation is half the fun.
As usual we here at Panic Watch! attempt to ride every hip web trend as long as possible, making millions of cash dollars along the way. So in that spirit we proudly present...
 Trisaksri © Ghost Repeller
$688 + $140 shipping
Are you spending inordinate amounts of money moving from house to house to escape the wrath of ghosts? Do you "having bad dream or nightmare every day, some abnormal noise in the night, fear in the night, etc"? These problems are more common than you think, but now there's help. The Trisaksri© Ghost Repeller from Boondee industries is a revolutionary new device that eliminates ghosts and devils with advanced WAVE KILLER technology.
No, it's not a subwoofer filled with old computer parts; it's a high-end piece of cutting edge electronics. Like most paranormal equipment this machine features several lights and even a button. But where others stop...the Trisaksri just begins. It's dual voltage, takes invisible pictures, neutralizes rogue animal spirits, and will not kill your ancestors' good spirits due to advanced discriminator technology.
So wire transfer your $828.00 to Thailand today and get rid of those nasty ghouls once and for all.
Link courtesy of JREF.
Witch Hunts: Alive and Well
Posted March 13, 2009 by Shakti Sombrero
Good old fashioned witch burnings are alive and well in March of 2009. If you thought we, as human beings, left this kind of panic and mass hysteria behind us hundreds of years ago, here's a short list of news stories from Africa in just the past few days.
Three Mozambican brothers allegedly lynched their two uncles by burning them to death in Maputo, for apparently being witches, Televisao de Mozambique reported on Sunday.
Jeremiah, 10, stares blankly at a window, tears rolling down his burn-scarred cheeks recounting how his father doused him with petrol and set him ablaze accusing him of witchcraft.
Around a dozen phony pastors have been arrested -- one on murder charges after he confessed in a documentary film to having killed 110 child witches. He now says he killed only the witches inside the children, not the children themselves.
Twenty people have been arrested over last week’s lynching of five people in Kanunda village, Kisii District, over witchcraft allegations.
As old women, they face being hacked to death as "witches", blamed for every virus and sickness blowing across the savannah.
...
"Your days are over, old woman," they said after smashing in her front door with a rock. Her granddaughter ran into the next room. "Stay there and shut up, or you will die, too," they shouted after her. Then they slashed into Shikalile's skull with machetes, and tried to cut off her hands – suggesting this was a witch-killing. Her granddaughter hid until morning, then ran for help.
It was too late. Shikalile's blood still stains the walls, and the small wooden chair where she sat in her last moments of life. Her family – huddled here for the funeral – have to sleep in this room. They have nowhere else to stay until they return to their own villages.
Witch killings are a daily event in Sukumaland. The victims are almost invariably old women, living alone.
Sibayan location chief Paul Kipyegon Koech told the court that residents were baying for Philip Chumo’s blood and urged the court to keep him in custody until the situation calmed down.
Mr Chumo, who is facing a charge of possessing charms, had been granted a Sh10,000 bond with a surety of similar amount but declined to go home fearing for his life.
Finally, an extremely disturbing video from Kenya in which five people suspected of "carrying charms" (typical evidence of witchcraft) were beaten and burned alive just days ago while the whole village watched. This video is graphic and disgusting, but a shocking reminder of the dangers of irrational mass panic. You've been warned.
Witch hunts still claim thousands of lives every year in Africa. Precise statistics are unknown but the killings appear to be on the rise rather than in decline. Superstition, lack of education, belief in supernatural powers, and economic hardship all drive this sickening phenomenon.
Court Crushes Vaccine-Autism Link
Posted February 13, 2009 by Shakti Sombrero
Via Bad Astronomy:
...three special courts all ruled that in these cases there is no scientific claim that vaccines cause autism.
In fact, in one ruling, a special master (the judge, essentially) said the parents of one troubled child had "been misled by physicians who are guilty, in my view, of gross medical misjudgment." The claims of links between autism and vaccines were also cited as "speculative and unpersuasive."
Damn straight.
My heart goes out to these parents, looking for some sort of reason why their children are autistic. I can hardly imagine what that must be like. But it is absolutely 100% critical that in our emotional and utterly human outreach for an explanation that we do not grasp at the wrong ones.
Vaccines don’t cause autism. The science is extremely persuasive, and I would even say conclusive.
This is good news, but as Phil points out this will in NO WAY dissuade vaccine quacks from their fearmongering mission. They've had plenty of reasons to stop up to this point (the evidence against the so-called link is not new) but whatever neurosis these people have prevents them from doing so.
Safeminds.org, a hive of vaccine paranoia, has already released a statement (as usual):
One more reason to distrust the government’s vaccine program.
For previous coverage of this issue see:
Dubious Data Awards 2008
Posted January 07, 2009 by Shakti Sombrero
STATS has compiled their list of the worst abuses of science and statistics over the past year. Highlights include...
Give them a visit for more, including finger-growing pixie dust, midget Dubliners, and women "saying no" to science.
Web-Bot: The New Millennium's Nostradamus
Posted November 22, 2008 by Indoles Eastlund
When I first ran across this article, I thought "the Web-Bot" was some geeky task-automation program. How wrong I was.
Web-Bot, is an artificial-intelligence-derived computer programme that has been able to predict the occurrence of seemly random catastrophic events.
Apparently, the Web-Bot has predicted all of the 'seemly random' catastrophic events since 2001's attack on the WTC. Katrina, anthrax letters, earthquakes... you name it, this bot has predicted it. The Web-Bot's 2008-2009 predictions can be seen at this website and it warns of many things...too many to wrap your head around at once. Essentially, it lists so many things it'll be right sometime, not to mention the broad scope of these predictions. For instance "Global Coast Event likely in early to mid 2009". Wow... millions and millions of miles of coastline all over the earth. I'll even concede that an 'event' will happen on a coastline. Maybe I'm psychic too?!?
The Web-Bot creators give a whiff of the scientific to what is little more than Miss Cleo astrology dressed up for a new generation:
There is no witchcraft or woo-woo in what we do -- it's hard core computer science and radical linguistics. So, no magic to be had... The records provided by the Web Bot have confirmed the ancient Mayan and Chinese prophesies that the year 2012 will bring an unspecified disaster and maybe even the anticipated Armageddon.
Ah yes, we can't leave the 2012 Doomsday prophecy out of this now can we? But hey, if you still don't get it, the picture below apparently spells it all out for you (courtesy of the scholarly minds that created Web-Bot):
Damn, that is hardcore!
Almost, but Not Yeti...
Posted October 23, 2008 by Indoles Eastlund
The Yeti has reemerged! Well, almost. A "footprint" of the mythical creature has been photographed by a team of Japanese adventurers in the Nepalese mountains that shows a very thin imprint in a patch of snow. Now, they made this amazing discovery after spending 42 days in the mountains 25,000 feet above sea level. I'm thinking they had to find something because if you walk all that way for nothing you'd look like quite the idiot.
It was about 200 metres away in silhouette. It was walking on two legs like a human and looked about 150 centimetres tall
WOW! They saw a creature that was... 4ft 11in tall? From my Yeti Studies 101 class in college, a Yeti was a massive creature that scared all (hence the term "Abominable Snowman"). Maybe these Japanese guys were intimidated by this 4'11" monstrosity but we ain't. And why do these Yeti hunters always take a picture of one footprint? Take pictures of the path this creature made in order to show something actually moved across the snow and assure us this isn't just the spot where a branch fell.
But don't fret, you Yeti hunters you; our Japanese friends are on a mission and they'll follow through.
We will come back as soon as we can, and we will keep coming back until we get the yeti on film.
Ahhhh... another blurry, grainy, distant shot of "something weird". Can't wait!
A 'Mass' Washed Ashore
Posted September 24, 2008 by Indoles Eastlund
**UPDATE**
We have pictures folks! The above selected picture is probably the "best" in that it definitely shows something very ordinary on the beach. Dead coral maybe? When I heard mass, I thought of a decomposing organic heap that resembled something, ala the Montauk Monster resembling a dead dog. This 'mass' certainly isn't the scariest thing I've seen even though Alien Worlds magazine would make you believe it's time to head for the lead-lined bunker for a few months. Nothing to see here folks other than sensationalistic media and nut jobs toting the invasion of boring ocean debris! **UPDATE**
Original Post:
To piggy-back on the recent Montauk Monster scare, New Zealand has their very own "masses" that are washing up on some beaches. Another mysterious white mass has been discovered on a beach in the lower North Island - this time Waikanae Beach on the Kapiti Coast.
Apparently, this is the fourth such mass to wash up on shore. The award winning scientists at Alien Worlds magazine claim:
...be prepared; strange things have been regularly appearing on NZ beaches over the last few months and its all building up to something that bodes ill for all of us. Mark my words.
Oh, we're marking.
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