All Hail the Anti-'Tards!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

With all the hullabaloo going on within the UCF to debunk Crank-o-the-Week Walter Wagner over at Refugees from the City, The Blog of Siram, Standing on the Shoulders of Giant Midgets, and Stonekettle Station, I've been getting a little stabby lately. I'm sure you understand.

So I'm going to move on and direct your attention to some anti-'tards who are doing their best to bring the real deal to the Internet. The website is called Stop Jenny McCarthy, and it's a thoughtful, considered response to the allegations that vaccines cause autism, and that autism can be "cured."

While my modus operandi tends to be pointing and laughing, these folks instead offer real information and resources pertaining to McCarthy's claims.

So a big "thank you" to Kylie Sturgess and Michael Rosch for their work on this effort. Vaccination is simply one of the biggest achievements in medical science, and the anti-vax crowd needs to be stopped. I suspect web sites like these will go farther in achieving this goal than snark.

A shot in the arm to my celebrity boyfriend The Bad Astronomer.

10 comments:

vince said...

If you'd like a good book on the subject, I'd like to recommend "Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure" by Paul A. Offit. He's chief of Infectious Diseases and the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as well as the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The book is available a number of places, including Amazon.

To modify a phrase by humorist Josh Billings (whom Mark Twain was known to quote): The trouble with the world is not that people know too little, it's that they know so many things that just aren't so.

Janiece said...

Thanks for the recommendation, Vince.

Podblack said...

You're welcome. :) www.podblack.com / aka Kylie Sturgess.

Janiece said...

Welcome, Kylie!

I really am pleased that there is some non-snarky information out there for those who might be inclined to take Ms. McCarthy at her word.

Noble work. Rock on, Hot Chick!

OBloodyHell said...

I also recommend Michael Fumento's site, on multiple levels:
Iraq -- he's been there, embedded, just like Michael Yon
Autism -- He's been writing about it for well over a decade
Diets -- esp. Atkins.
AIDS -- ditto

Lots of other things, too. For amusement, stick your head into his "readers' letters", where he snarks at some of the bigger idiots, including the Atkins and Thiomeresol(sp?) defenders (note: many of his columns are published, so zero snark. He saves the snark for the letter-response sections)

He does not post constantly, but there's a lot of back material of interest.

If you want a belated shoulda-made-the-'tard-list:
The Villainous Vandana Shiva
Vandana opposes feeding people.

Janiece said...

Thanks for the recommendations, obloodyhell.

Unfortunately for Planet Earth, there doesn't seem to be much of a shortage of 'tards out there...

Unknown said...

Is that a Plognark drawing? Dude's a friend of mine, he's fantastic. I'm particularly fond of his "Pascal's Wager" drawing.

Janiece said...

Welcome, Hannah.

I shamelessly stole the drawing from Bad Astronomy, and I'm very glad to know the attribution - thanks.

I'm even happier to see that it's available on Cafe Press! I'll soon be the happy owner of a "The Stupid - It Burns!" T-Shirt! I'm hoping that makes up for my earlier (non-attributed) theft.

Anonymous said...

I see Kylie has already commented but I just came across this blog. Thanks for plugging the site.

-Michael Rosch

Janiece said...

Welcome, Michael, and you're welcome!