Froth Slosh B'Gosh

Vaccines DO NOT Cause Autism

Yet another scientific study shows that the MMR vaccine doesn't cause autism.

Researchers at Copenhagen’s Statens Serum Institut examined data for Danish children born from 1999 through the end of 2010, more than half a million people all together. The epidemiologists and statisticians then used population registries to link information on vaccination status to autism diagnoses, as well as to sibling history of autism and other risk factors.
The findings show that the vaccine does not increase the risk of autism, lending new statistical certainty to what was already medical consensus. The researchers further concluded that vaccination is not likely to trigger the developmental disorder in susceptible populations and is not associated with a clustering of cases appearing after immunization.

But seeing how all opinions are equally valid in the marketplace of ideas, as Billy Bragg would put it, we're probably going to be whacking this mole again and again for decades.

How Much Did We Pay For This??

Pennsylvania spent 2 years redesigning our driver's licenses and photo ID's and they're STILL not compliant with Federal regulations???

Despite enhanced security features, the new cards will not be compliant with the Real ID federal standards implemented after 9/11 and will be available in Pennsylvania in 2019.

How much did we pay for this waste of time and effort?

Some Bad News

The Frothling was diagnosed with Lyme disease.  While Lyme is easily curable in its early stages, the longer it goes untreated, the harder it is to treat.  She started exhibiting symptoms three weeks ago.  Since it was the weekend, we were directed to take her to Children's Hospital, which, as an aside, was acquired by The Evil Empire about a decade ago.  Mrs. Froth took her, and I stayed home to watch Frothette and Pumpkin.  They didn't get back until 0300 Monday, with nothing known, but blood drawn for labwork.

I asked Mrs. Froth if The Frothling was prescribed antibiotics as a precaution, as the symptoms seemed similar to Lyme.  She told me no, but she called the next day to request antibiotics, and was told to wait for the test results.

The test results were back on Wednesday, positive for Lyme.  And there they sat.  No phone call to us, no call to our PCP, no call to the rheumatologist that we were directed to make an appointment with.

When the Frothling saw the rheumatologist eight days later, and the symptoms were described, he immediately said, "Oh, that sounds like Lyme."  He was told the hospital ordered blood tests, but we hadn't gotten the results yet.  The doctor called the hospital, and learned that the results came back over a week ago, but were "misplaced."

The rheumatologist said the bite could have occurred up to 2 months ago.  We're probably still in the window where the month-long antibiotic regime will clear the infection, but there is a chance it won't.  The rheumatologist was shocked that the hospital didn't prescribe the antibiotics that night.

So yesterday, the hospital called and spoke with Mrs. Froth, and admitted that mistakes were made.  I, for one, will be consulting with an attorney next week.

Grille Gripes

I've always wanted a grill/smoker, and Mrs. Froth bought me one (A Brinkmann) as an early father's day present.  The Frothling and I put it together this evening.  It was pretty easy to assemble, although the unit was a bit wobbly at first because we couldn't tighten any of the base/frame pieces until we attached the lower barrel half.

However, this was annoying:  The unit requires 10 bolts with nuts, and they only gave me nine nuts.  It couldn't have been an accident, because all the hardware came on a vacuum-sealed card, with the count of each hardware item printed on the card.  The card read "nuts X 9."

I have lots of nuts in my workshop, but none fit the bolt, so I just took a bolt from the work bench that fit the nuts I had to finish the job.  Imrovise, adapt, and overcome.

I'm looking forward to using it this weekend, but I have to work Saturday, and I have to cure the grille for three hours before cooking on it, so tomorrow night I'm going to load it with charcoal and initiate the curing process.  I might get to cook on it Sunday.

 

I Swear....

If I hear one more person say "So much for that 'global warming?'" I will scream.  Here's a pretty good, readable explanation for why its so damn cold in the east (and so damn warm in the west).

...the Arctic is warming much faster than elsewhere. That Arctic/mid-latitude temperature difference, consequently, is getting smaller. And the smaller differential in temperatures is causing the west-to-east winds in the jet to weaken.

Strong jets tend to blow straight west to east; weaker jets tend to wander more in a drunken north/south path, increasing the likelihood of wavy patterns like the one we’ve seen almost non-stop since last winter.

When the jet stream’s waves grow larger, they tend to move eastward more slowly, which means the weather they generate also moves more slowly, creating more persistent weather patterns.

If you want a denser scientific explanation, just google "quasi resonant Rossby waves."

Woo

I saw a guy today "locating" and marking underground utilities with dowsing rods.  His markings were all over the place, but seeing how most sewer and water lines are buried parallel the the road, random chance means they'll probably dig in the right place despite his incompetence. 

Thanks Anti-Vaxxers!

People are needlessly getting an easily preventable disease. 

 

Well we're back!

Typepad was totally screwed up yesterday, but now we're back!

Fishwrap

Once again, the Post-Gazette wastes a considerable amount of ink promoting nonsense.  Today, we were treated to a two page article in the regional North section on mediums and psychics, without a single word from a skeptic explaining how these frauds take advantage of peoples' grief at $120 to $200 an hour.

So to the editors:  If you really must run this kind of story, do you think you could devote at least a paragraph or two showing how these charlatans do their tricks?  Try googling "hot reading" and "cold reading."  That'll get you started.

VOTER FRAUD!!!

And once again, its the GOP that perpetrated it.  From The Brad Blog:

With these 300 fraudulent votes created by one Republican candidate alone, that's 300 more fraudulent votes than have ever been created by ACORN or anybody who has ever worked for them.

But, of course, you're unlikely to hear that, or even this story itself, from the tenacious Fox "News" "voter fraud special investigative unit" or the GOP clowns who help them disinform American voters.

As I've noted before, photo ID laws do nothing to prevent this kind of fraud.  As I've noted before, impersonating another person at the polls is so incredibly rare, and so easily detected, trying to stamp it out by disenfranchising thousands of legitimate voters is a fool's errand.  And as I've also noted before, if a Republican is complaining about something, you can bet that he or she is neck deep in the activity at the root of the complaint, be it voter fraud, teh gays, or whatever.

UPDATE:  I still cannot post in comments but Lefty points us to a similar story recently adjudicated in Ohio involving a Democratic poll worker that I was unaware of.  The point is, of course, that voter fraud simply doesn't occur in person, when it happens it is by manipulation of the process by insiders, usually via absentee ballot abuse.  Voter ID laws do not, and in fact the cannot, address those problems.  So again, what is the point other than an attempt to supress turnout?