On March 9, 2009 Dana Elizabeth McCaffery died at 4 weeks of age from Whooping cough. She was born on February 5, 2009 to Australian Parents who recently had moved to a small quiet community called Northern Rivers. This community has become a hot bed in Australia for the anti vaccination movement. In fact The Northern Rivers region has one of the nation’s lowest childhood vaccination rates.
“First, our tiny daughter coughed uncontrollably until she turned blue and required oxygen to regain her breath. She was fed through a nasal-gastro tube, was given fluid via a drip and placed in an oxygen headbox. The paediatrician told us that when Dana could recover without oxygen we could go home, but she would continue having coughing attacks for up to 100 days and possible respiratory complications. However, this is for the ‘lucky ones’.
Dana developed Pneumonia on the third day. She was placed on a ventilator and airlifted to Brisbane’s Mater Children’s Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. We still did not panic, on the advice she would be there for a week until she was strong enough to breathe on her own.
On the fifth day, the Pertussis took an unexpected and deadly turn. In what seemed an instant, Dana had an aggressive reaction to the toxin, which attacked her immune system and heart. The Pertussis blocked every drug or treatment that the team of specialists could throw at it. We were powerless to save her. After nearly 10 hours of desperate blood transfusions, Dana’s beautiful heart stopped beating and she let out her last sweet breath.”
She was the first to die from this appalling but totally preventable disease since 2004!
She contracted it from the anti Vaccination community of Northern Rivers. And even though her parents Immunized her siblings and believe in vaccinations it did not save little Dana.
Let me pose this question. Let’s say that you have been poisoned. You go to the emergency room for the Antidote only to be confronted by two lines.
Line A leads to a man. He says that he has the only true antidote, that he has faith it works and that the Doctors in the other line are out for profit only, so they can’t be right. He states that his wife’s “Mommy sense” told her that this was the correct antidote. He says that the doctor’s antidote causes horrible side effects but has no proof.
At the end of line B stands a group of people. They say that they have the antidote, that they have tested it on lab animals in a double blind study, have had their research reviewed by peers, and had an independent lab confirm their results. In fact you can see the cages of rats and the publications. It, in their opinion, is 100% effective. They also state that they have done a double blind study, also reviewed by their peers, and independently confirmed that this antidote does not cause any side effects.
Who would you turn to? At least you have a choice. Little Dana Elizabeth McCaffery did not.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Ruminations on Society......
I seem to find a lot of time on my hands…. So I apologies In advance for the long winded nature of this blog. Sorry Dave, I know I’m breaking one of the rules of blogging!
This week I’d like to introduce you to a little idea I call, Simon’s model of Society.
A word of warning, what I am doing here is not, I repeat not science. It is merely the beginnings of a hypothesis, a mind game. If anyone reading this would like to do the experimentation and work to prove or disprove any of this, have at it!
What is society? A society is a group of humans or other organisms of a single species that is delineated by the bounds of cultural identity, social solidarity, functional interdependence, or eusociality. That being said, I started to ask how important is our society? Can we survive as individuals without our society? It permeates every aspect of our existence as human beings. From our media, to food production, to our reproduction we are guided by society. In fact the line becomes quite blurred when we talk about the biological human and the human society. Is it possible that it is human society that defines us as human beings? It is most certain that it was society that allowed us to develop cities, agriculture, arts. In fact, some would argue, it is most likely this that separates us from the animals. So if we are no different than other animals biologically in the way our bodies work, in our chemistry, what makes us believe that our society is so different either? And what is the role, or myth of the individual in all of this?
About a year ago, I found myself watching an aerial photo set of tribal people’s villages on the internet. At one point I started seeing a pattern in the trails left by the people and I started thinking if there was a mathematical formula dictating that behavior. I remembered seeing several films that focused on showing our cities at a wildly accelerated rate. I was struck by how antlike the behavior of people was at that speed. Could you use that formula to predict the behavior of streets in cities?
Almost at the same time I saw a wonderful TED lecture by Stanford University professor Deborah Gordon on her study on Sonora ants. This study showed that ants can change their predetermined role in their society to suit the needs of society. The interesting thing was that there was a model of behavior that regulated this. For example forager ants can change to warrior ants to defend the colony but warrior ants could not become forager ants. There seems to be some kind of hierarchy at work. She goes in to much more detail about the parallels between humans and ants but for the sake of brevity you can read about it here: http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF1904/Foster/Foster.html
The ants too had a pattern in the construction of their colony.
So if we take that leap and transpose animal societies upon our own we see some startling similarities. Forester ants changing to warrior ants and the surge in enlistment in the military after 911 comes to mind. A well as birth rate surges in time of war and statistically more males being born.
Patterns created by our cities are errly similar to the same ones constructed by termites and ants, as a specific way to work with an environment. Both ants and termites instinctively know how to build fungi farms and air conditioning in their mounds.
So would it be too much of a stretch to assume that our society is no different than the societies of other animals, granted more complex. That the same behavior controls both species? It is obvious that creatures that evolved societies as a survival mechanism have a huge advantage. And where does that leave the role of the individual in all of this.
My question is, are we all predisposed genetically to our role in life? Do we have a specific function in our society, perhaps like ants but more complex? It is reasonable to state that some people are more genetically disposed to certain tasks than others, let’s say how math skills run in family groups. Could it be that the yearning I feel to be an artist is a function of society, and somehow by becoming an artist that I would fulfill my role in society? What would be those roles in our society?
Perhaps our myths led a clue. It seems that almost every human society has the same types of archetypes’ within its myths. Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung both pointed this out in their life’s work. There is the Hero, The journeyer, the trickster, the child, the great mother, and the wise old man. These can be thought of as exaggerations or stereotypes of real human behavior. Perhaps they are a reflection of the roles that we take in our society. Take me as an example. I believe that I would fall under the trickster mythology. The trickster deity breaks the rules of the gods or nature, sometimes maliciously (for example, Loki) but usually, albeit unintentionally, with ultimately positive effects. It can be said that through my artwork that I reflect what I see, sometimes in a grotesque way, which can ultimately help society. Why is it that I am happiest when I am fulfilled doing this? Do artists serve a benefit to society?
And now here is the catch, I believe with all my heart that we as individuals can become anything we want to in society provided we have enough resources and time. This is a very powerful theme in our society in our mythology and media. So how can I reconcile the two? How can we be preprogrammed to a specific role in society and have the ability to choose any role we want? Is that choice an illusion?
Another thought, what if these biological systems are merely scaled reflections of other systems? Perhaps our society represents a complex organism and we as individuals are just “cells” within the context of that organism fulfilling our role? There are interesting parallels here as well. Society attacks threats to itself just as the immune system reacts to a pathogen. We see this scaled phenomenon in the physical universe all over the place. From the orbits of satellites, to the orbits of galaxy’s. From the patterns created by growing neurons in our brains to the pattern from the widest survey of the universe.
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/08/14/science/20060815_SCILL_GRAPHIC.html
The patterns are remarkable the same. Or perhaps we are just really good at recognizing the similarities in patterns.
So this leads us to some interesting fundamental questions. In the context of society, do we really have free will? Or are we, like the cells in our body, happiest when we are fulfilling our predetermined role within the organism of society? Can we as individuals make the choice to change from a worker ant to a forager ant? I’m not sure I know the answers to these questions, but then again perhaps I don’t want to. Perhaps I want to just be a happy little cell in the fabric of our society.
This week I’d like to introduce you to a little idea I call, Simon’s model of Society.
A word of warning, what I am doing here is not, I repeat not science. It is merely the beginnings of a hypothesis, a mind game. If anyone reading this would like to do the experimentation and work to prove or disprove any of this, have at it!
What is society? A society is a group of humans or other organisms of a single species that is delineated by the bounds of cultural identity, social solidarity, functional interdependence, or eusociality. That being said, I started to ask how important is our society? Can we survive as individuals without our society? It permeates every aspect of our existence as human beings. From our media, to food production, to our reproduction we are guided by society. In fact the line becomes quite blurred when we talk about the biological human and the human society. Is it possible that it is human society that defines us as human beings? It is most certain that it was society that allowed us to develop cities, agriculture, arts. In fact, some would argue, it is most likely this that separates us from the animals. So if we are no different than other animals biologically in the way our bodies work, in our chemistry, what makes us believe that our society is so different either? And what is the role, or myth of the individual in all of this?
About a year ago, I found myself watching an aerial photo set of tribal people’s villages on the internet. At one point I started seeing a pattern in the trails left by the people and I started thinking if there was a mathematical formula dictating that behavior. I remembered seeing several films that focused on showing our cities at a wildly accelerated rate. I was struck by how antlike the behavior of people was at that speed. Could you use that formula to predict the behavior of streets in cities?
Almost at the same time I saw a wonderful TED lecture by Stanford University professor Deborah Gordon on her study on Sonora ants. This study showed that ants can change their predetermined role in their society to suit the needs of society. The interesting thing was that there was a model of behavior that regulated this. For example forager ants can change to warrior ants to defend the colony but warrior ants could not become forager ants. There seems to be some kind of hierarchy at work. She goes in to much more detail about the parallels between humans and ants but for the sake of brevity you can read about it here: http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF1904/Foster/Foster.html
The ants too had a pattern in the construction of their colony.
So if we take that leap and transpose animal societies upon our own we see some startling similarities. Forester ants changing to warrior ants and the surge in enlistment in the military after 911 comes to mind. A well as birth rate surges in time of war and statistically more males being born.
Patterns created by our cities are errly similar to the same ones constructed by termites and ants, as a specific way to work with an environment. Both ants and termites instinctively know how to build fungi farms and air conditioning in their mounds.
So would it be too much of a stretch to assume that our society is no different than the societies of other animals, granted more complex. That the same behavior controls both species? It is obvious that creatures that evolved societies as a survival mechanism have a huge advantage. And where does that leave the role of the individual in all of this.
My question is, are we all predisposed genetically to our role in life? Do we have a specific function in our society, perhaps like ants but more complex? It is reasonable to state that some people are more genetically disposed to certain tasks than others, let’s say how math skills run in family groups. Could it be that the yearning I feel to be an artist is a function of society, and somehow by becoming an artist that I would fulfill my role in society? What would be those roles in our society?
Perhaps our myths led a clue. It seems that almost every human society has the same types of archetypes’ within its myths. Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung both pointed this out in their life’s work. There is the Hero, The journeyer, the trickster, the child, the great mother, and the wise old man. These can be thought of as exaggerations or stereotypes of real human behavior. Perhaps they are a reflection of the roles that we take in our society. Take me as an example. I believe that I would fall under the trickster mythology. The trickster deity breaks the rules of the gods or nature, sometimes maliciously (for example, Loki) but usually, albeit unintentionally, with ultimately positive effects. It can be said that through my artwork that I reflect what I see, sometimes in a grotesque way, which can ultimately help society. Why is it that I am happiest when I am fulfilled doing this? Do artists serve a benefit to society?
And now here is the catch, I believe with all my heart that we as individuals can become anything we want to in society provided we have enough resources and time. This is a very powerful theme in our society in our mythology and media. So how can I reconcile the two? How can we be preprogrammed to a specific role in society and have the ability to choose any role we want? Is that choice an illusion?
Another thought, what if these biological systems are merely scaled reflections of other systems? Perhaps our society represents a complex organism and we as individuals are just “cells” within the context of that organism fulfilling our role? There are interesting parallels here as well. Society attacks threats to itself just as the immune system reacts to a pathogen. We see this scaled phenomenon in the physical universe all over the place. From the orbits of satellites, to the orbits of galaxy’s. From the patterns created by growing neurons in our brains to the pattern from the widest survey of the universe.
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/08/14/science/20060815_SCILL_GRAPHIC.html
The patterns are remarkable the same. Or perhaps we are just really good at recognizing the similarities in patterns.
So this leads us to some interesting fundamental questions. In the context of society, do we really have free will? Or are we, like the cells in our body, happiest when we are fulfilling our predetermined role within the organism of society? Can we as individuals make the choice to change from a worker ant to a forager ant? I’m not sure I know the answers to these questions, but then again perhaps I don’t want to. Perhaps I want to just be a happy little cell in the fabric of our society.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Yuri's Night
On this day in 1961, for the first time in all of human history, a human being left the safety of our atmosphere and entered the vast expanse of the cosmos.
On April 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first human to bridge the gap between the earth and entered the void launching to orbit aboard the Vostok 3KA-2. For 108 minutes this man, born of a peasant family in the village of Klushino Russia, orbited the earth.
I never learned of this man in grade school. Nor did I learn about him in High school, nor in college. Instead I was inundated with the patriotic propaganda of our society. It was only by searching out, by my own volition that I came across the supreme accomplishment of not only this man but of the scientists and persons that put him there.
So I toast to you today, Mr. Gagarin, for you were the first to enter the greatest of human mysteries.
“The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us- there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.”
-Carl Sagan, Cosmos
On April 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first human to bridge the gap between the earth and entered the void launching to orbit aboard the Vostok 3KA-2. For 108 minutes this man, born of a peasant family in the village of Klushino Russia, orbited the earth.
I never learned of this man in grade school. Nor did I learn about him in High school, nor in college. Instead I was inundated with the patriotic propaganda of our society. It was only by searching out, by my own volition that I came across the supreme accomplishment of not only this man but of the scientists and persons that put him there.
So I toast to you today, Mr. Gagarin, for you were the first to enter the greatest of human mysteries.
“The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us- there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.”
-Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Thursday, April 2, 2009
... let the stupidity begin!
Well that didn't take long! Thank all of you anti vaxxers for responding so quickly and with such enthusiasm! I particularly like the comment that included the phrase "I hope your child gets autism from all the crap you are putting into his body". Very adult! So instead of trying to respond to this insanity directly I think I will just let the facts speak for themselves. And for those of you who wont even believe the research or facts and believe that this is a huge cover up from the government or big pharma, please do us a favor and crawl back into that paranoid hole you came out of, because you know what, I am watching you! Right now! From your computer! And I command you to go now, and stick your head in a toilet and flush!
Anyhow, as promised.......
Stop Jenny McCarthy:
http://www.stopjenny.com/
Jenny McCarthys body count:
http://www.jennymccarthybodycount.com/Jenny_McCarthy_Body_Count/Home.html
The CDC's website on Morbidity and Mortality that the data was taken from:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
And research:
http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=84662
http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=84662#wakefield
http://skepdic.com/autismtimeline.html
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/autism/mmr/
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7076-autism-rises-despite-mmr-ban-in-japan.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1808826.stm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-512348/The-research-disproves-MMR-jab-link-autism.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMR_vaccine_controversy
and as a bonus: http://www.wimp.com/thetrouble/
Until next time, please keep educated!
-Simon
Anyhow, as promised.......
Stop Jenny McCarthy:
http://www.stopjenny.com/
Jenny McCarthys body count:
http://www.jennymccarthybodycount.com/Jenny_McCarthy_Body_Count/Home.html
The CDC's website on Morbidity and Mortality that the data was taken from:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
And research:
http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=84662
http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=84662#wakefield
http://skepdic.com/autismtimeline.html
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/autism/mmr/
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7076-autism-rises-despite-mmr-ban-in-japan.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1808826.stm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-512348/The-research-disproves-MMR-jab-link-autism.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMR_vaccine_controversy
and as a bonus: http://www.wimp.com/thetrouble/
Until next time, please keep educated!
-Simon
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
News of the mentaly challenged!
Ello All!
Well a couple of interesting news items this week.
The Texas Board of Education voted on Friday to remove the universe's age from the state's educational standards. As many of you are aware, Texas has been and is once more become the battleground for the anti-science agenda of the creationist movement.
I wonder if the state of Arizona will retract the theory of Gravity? Perhaps it is gods goodness that holds us to the earth? Oh wait, the earth is flat! Silly me! Perhaps I could get my age taken off my driver’s licenses? After all, it is only a theory that I was born on the first of January, I certainly don't remember it!
Ok, so now this is getting ridiculous!
Other decisions included specific language requiring scientific explanations on evolution to be "evaluated" by students and teachers. Chair of the Board Don McLeroy testified to the reason why that may be the case at the meeting:
"I disagree with these experts. Someone has got to stand up to experts."
Ahhh the "evil" experts! I understand now!
Just keep in mind that this will set the standards for children’s textbooks nation wide.
The second story is the announcement of Jenny McCarthy s new book "Healing and Preventing Autism". For you that are unaware, dear Miss McCarthy feel that her "mommy sense" told her that vaccines are causing Autism and that we should no longer vaccinate our children. In fact, to date she has shown exactly no evidence that her case is correct, while there is mountains of peer reviewed evidence showing the vaccines are safe. Don't believe me? Then please look up the studies for yourself! This is going to be in the news alot in future months as this seems to be heating up again. In fact the LA times just ran an article about how more and more parents are choosing not to vaccinate their kids when they go to school, specifically because of the fear of autism. Its a bit scary that so many people can be duped without even looking at a shred of evidence. Doctors all over the US are bracing for a Measles epidemic coming out of California this summer.
Unrelated, there’s a measles alert in Pittsburgh. Terrific.
And to end at least end on a positive note: There is a news program titled "What would you do?" Usually pitting actors in situations to judge just how the public would react or not as the case would be. The previous one I saw had two actors playing a couple out on a first date. When the Woman got up to use the restroom the man overtly slipped some substance (Sugar) into the drink of the woman. AKA Date rape drug. There was the obvious reaction from the public.
Well the latest one places two gay actors into a New Jersey blue collar bar. As the evening progresses the reaction from the public even surprised me! People would go waaayyyyyy out of their way to isolate anyone who was not tolerant of the couple, no matter how affectionate they were. Completely blew my stereotype out of the water! You can see the episode here:
http://www.wimp.com/helpout/
So adieu until next time some insanity provokes me to writing, which perhaps might not be long at all..........
-Simon
Well a couple of interesting news items this week.
The Texas Board of Education voted on Friday to remove the universe's age from the state's educational standards. As many of you are aware, Texas has been and is once more become the battleground for the anti-science agenda of the creationist movement.
I wonder if the state of Arizona will retract the theory of Gravity? Perhaps it is gods goodness that holds us to the earth? Oh wait, the earth is flat! Silly me! Perhaps I could get my age taken off my driver’s licenses? After all, it is only a theory that I was born on the first of January, I certainly don't remember it!
Ok, so now this is getting ridiculous!
Other decisions included specific language requiring scientific explanations on evolution to be "evaluated" by students and teachers. Chair of the Board Don McLeroy testified to the reason why that may be the case at the meeting:
"I disagree with these experts. Someone has got to stand up to experts."
Ahhh the "evil" experts! I understand now!
Just keep in mind that this will set the standards for children’s textbooks nation wide.
The second story is the announcement of Jenny McCarthy s new book "Healing and Preventing Autism". For you that are unaware, dear Miss McCarthy feel that her "mommy sense" told her that vaccines are causing Autism and that we should no longer vaccinate our children. In fact, to date she has shown exactly no evidence that her case is correct, while there is mountains of peer reviewed evidence showing the vaccines are safe. Don't believe me? Then please look up the studies for yourself! This is going to be in the news alot in future months as this seems to be heating up again. In fact the LA times just ran an article about how more and more parents are choosing not to vaccinate their kids when they go to school, specifically because of the fear of autism. Its a bit scary that so many people can be duped without even looking at a shred of evidence. Doctors all over the US are bracing for a Measles epidemic coming out of California this summer.
Unrelated, there’s a measles alert in Pittsburgh. Terrific.
And to end at least end on a positive note: There is a news program titled "What would you do?" Usually pitting actors in situations to judge just how the public would react or not as the case would be. The previous one I saw had two actors playing a couple out on a first date. When the Woman got up to use the restroom the man overtly slipped some substance (Sugar) into the drink of the woman. AKA Date rape drug. There was the obvious reaction from the public.
Well the latest one places two gay actors into a New Jersey blue collar bar. As the evening progresses the reaction from the public even surprised me! People would go waaayyyyyy out of their way to isolate anyone who was not tolerant of the couple, no matter how affectionate they were. Completely blew my stereotype out of the water! You can see the episode here:
http://www.wimp.com/helpout/
So adieu until next time some insanity provokes me to writing, which perhaps might not be long at all..........
-Simon
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