Honey Dipped Flim Flam

Although I thought this was already done, Andrew Wakefield's autism study has been declared a fraud. Not just mistaken; out-and-out fraud. Anderson Cooper interviews him and gets to the point. Wakefield sees a conspiricy against him and is standing by his work, facts be damned. He also keeps pitching his book, which is standard scientific procedure, I'm told. Cooper has a golden line when Wakefield tells him to read the book for more information; "If you're lying, the book is also a lie." Anyway, it's a good takedown. (Edit: Link to the actual article)

Of course, the anti-Vax folks continue to support Wakefield, despite the medicine being against them, because they don't care about facts. The folks at Science Based Medicine, as well as Elyse Anders of SkepChick and Parenting Within Reason have been wonderful about countering anti-Vaccination claims and showing them to be false. Make no mistake. There is no evidence that vaccines cause autism, and there is evidence that they save lives by lowering the incidence of disease.

Now Wakefield is peddling his bullshit to the Minnesota Somali community. Hopefully they will understand that Wakefield is a fraud and a charlatan and will tell him to go to hell.

Well, I'm off to go over my finances and see if we can afford to keep the Spinoff and still survive. Seeing how hard it is to make it on $250,000 a year, I'm not sure how we can possibly get by on 1/2 of that. Anyone know if I can sell my spleen?

Your Two Posts in One Week? Must Be Bored leader

No Pill's Gonna Cure My Ill

I've had a cold for the past four days. It sucks. I'm high on cold meds and 3 glasses of scotch right now. Please forgive me.

Grammar and spelling are always important. This video demonstrates just how important they are. (Not Work Safe)


(via Millard Fillmore's Bathtub)

Of course, our insurance system has been a big discussion topic. I say insurance, not health care, because we're not talking about health care. We're talking about how to pay for health care.

Here's my question. If the government plan is going to be so awful, why is anyone worried about it taking over? If the public plan will be rationed and awful coverage, won't people stick with a private insurance company for a little more cash?

I've heard that 70-80% of people like their insurance plan. Of course they do, compared to the alternative. I have a plan that cost me little, and my VEBA plan more than covers my yearly deductible, not to mention that it carries over year to year. I have a good plan. I'd bet that given the choice between many private plans and what I have, people would take my plan. People are happy because they see what they're paying versus what it costs to get insurance without an employer chipping in, and anything is better than that.

And please get off of the "insuring lazy people" bullshit. When I was working full time as a security guard, I couldn't go to a doctor. The insurance I was offered was little more than catastrophic coverage. That was fine for me, a young, healthy single guy with no kids. At the pay we were getting, the cost for decent health coverage was astronomical. And that was for full time work.

A co-worker argued that the tax raises from the public plan would destroy retired people on a fixed income. Apparently he's never heard of premium increases, nor does he know how much an insurance plan without employer contributions actually costs for a 55-65 year old. My retired parents pay $400/month for their insurance, which is stellar. Well, that's their amount. My dad was a member of an evil union for his whole career, so he only pays 25% of the total. If you think $1600/month is in any regular retired person's budget, you're either rich or stupid.

And then there's the rationing argument. Leave aside the fact that health insurance companies do a perfectly fine job of rationing health care, care is also being rationed by price, as in the poor can't afford good health care. I'd also argue that giving everyone access doesn't mean that everyone will pound down the doors (except perhaps at the beginning, when people can finally afford to see a doctor for the first time. That will pass.). I've been sick for the last week. I didn't go to a doctor. Why do you think everyone else will?

And if you don't want the government getting between doctors and patients, you had better frackin' not be against medical marijuana. I'm looking at you, Governor Pawlenty.

I agree that our representatives in Congress should be willing to apply to the public option. That's the only way to know it's a great plan. But even if they don't, the wait for an MRI will be a lot shorter on the public plan than it will be for someone with no insurance at all. I suppose it's easy to argue against public insurance when you have a good job that provides a decent insurance plan. Or, lords forbid, are in a union.

Speaking of which ... Here's what the "conservative" movement thinks of union members, many of whom vote republican. How dare they expect a decent wage for their day's work? How dare they expect to be treated fairly? Why, if you're in a union, you are nothing but a lazy thug. Vote Republican!

Your *cough* *cough* *arrrack* leader.

But She Said, "I'm Sure You're Mistaken"

I've not written for a while. I've been in mourning. Now, I'm usually on the side of a union, but I am left wondering if these guys realized that they are professional lacrosse players, and should be grateful just to be able to eat every day.

This article left me feeling sad for people. It's about changes in Minnesota funeral law. The first line left me scratching my head. Is it beneath the dignity of a dead man to ride in the back of a pickup truck? Really? this is what we're worried about? The dead man, well, he's dead, and really has no dignity.

The State Health Guy in charge of mortuary science, David Beneke, says the changes were made to, "prevent someone from disposing of a dead body in an unacceptable manner, such as a funeral pyre." He then adds, "If there was a group that was doing this continuously for 25 years, we would allow it." Which means that there can be no new funeral traditions ever again. And besides, what's wrong with a funeral pyre? It was good enough for the folks in the old country.

I'm not a big conspiracy guy, but there is no logical reason to restrict how a body can be disposed of except that the people who get paid to dispose of the bodies want to keep getting paid. There are illogical reasons, like, oh, this:

Benke said the law still would allow a body to be transported in a van or an SUV. But the state wants to prohibit bodies transported in pickup trucks or trailers, even if they are covered.

"We don't think that's respectful to the deceased," he said.

It's not the Health Department's job to tell me what is respectful to my dead family member. If it is unhealthy for a corpse to be placed in the back of an open truck, make the case. Leave respect for the dead to people who know the dead.

Considering that morticians can get a religious waver for some rules, I'm guessing the rules have little to do with public health. Although it wouldn't be the first time that religious beliefs were used to fight against public health.

Finally, this story makes me feel better about macing squirrels on my back porch.

Your Bring Out Your Dead leader.