what’s the point of knocking me down?

Wired offers up a brilliant piece by Amy Wallace on the anti-vax zealots. And predictably enough she is being demonized by the nut jobs and belittled because she's 'just a hysterical woman, don't listen to her'. Seriously. Their primary approach to her is to crank up the inherent misogyny of the anti-vax movement.

Dr. Peter Lipton Predicts a busy busy flu season, and helpfully explains the difficulties in getting in to see the doctor.

Dr. David Dobbs notes with concern the woefully insufficient response from HHS and CDC on vaccine delays.

Effect Measure raises the question Swine Flu Parties? WTF? moves on do fully and cleanly take apart the absurd Atlantic Monthly anti-vax propaganda, and finally clocks in with Swine Flu: How bad was the first wave?.

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Catch the mouse

It's been a busy week at home and at work, but I grabbed a few minutes last night for some general workbench maintenance: sharpening.

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The mystery man came over and said I'm outta sight

A few quick quotes that I really liked recently, both related to skepticism and evidence:

Akusai on Action Skeptics notes:
We want evidence that is produced by methods widely known to generate accurate statements about reality

Matt Dillahunty frequently says this and I think it is at the core of my truth seeking:
I want to believe in as many true things as possible and as few false things as possible.

Also a book I've been meaning to tell several of my loyal reader about: The Atheist's Guide to Christmas

And because I haven't mentioned it recently, listen to Sunday's Supplement podcast, it's hilarious. In the interest of full disclosure they occasionally read emails from me on the show, which lowers the comedic value of the episode a bit.

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Not concerned with the sick amongst the pure

I've been remiss on flu/H1N1 updates, a function of being behind on all my online presence. So here's a few items of note:

• Vaccination Support has a well known liberal bias from Mike the Mad Biologist noting that Democrats are more likely to get vaccines than either Republicans or Independents.
• Why this flu season is a big deal from Effect Measure, which delves into the numbers behind the CDC's concerns
• Dr Peter Lipson debunks flu rumors and myths
• Dr John Snyder addresses vaccine safety concerns for parents.
• What's the Harm?Also from Dr Peter Lipson, clearly explains the mortality rate of the flu. The headline is a nice reference to the vitally important site What's the Harm website.
• more from Effect Measure, this one on why the authors are getting both the seasonal and the H1N1 shots.
• Latest arguments of vaccine rejectionists by Skeptical OB
• A new side effect of H1N1 virus in which Politifact addresses some of the politicization of H1N1
• The Vaccine Mercury Toxicity Myth from Science Based Parenting Blog

I'll also note that relevant to Autism/vaccine correlation myths that the latest research indicates that there is *no* variation in prevalence of autism between age groups. Looking at people from ages 5-75 there is no statistically significant difference in autism occurence between age groups. The older the subjects are the fewer vaccines they would have gotten during childhood. Yet there is no difference in autism rates between people born in, for example, 1940 versus 2000. Which is a clear indication that there is *no* correlation between vaccines and autism.

Another popular myth is that the Amish, who don't get vaccines, have no rates of autism. Given the insular nature of the community precise numbers can be hard to come by but there are certainly documented cases of Amish having autism, disproving that claim.

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Paint your face with what you like

The costume rack is done. A final coat of paint today and it will be ready to use. As usual it is overengineered, but damn sturdy. If I'd had more time to dedicate to it there's a few things I'd have done differently on the joints but time is a rare commodity. The main bars will hold 8' of costumes, the braces on the front, back and sides can have hats, wigs, boas, gloves, wings, etc draped over them. Underneath is a four foot by two foot space for shoes (probably not enough room). I will also be adding stick on plastic hooks along the sides for accessories like purses, wands, sunglasses, etc. It's a bubblegum pink, which doesn't come through well under the flourescent lighting. There won't be any pictures of the next project, because it's painting the office.

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Love your masks

Somehow I managed to only buy two dowels rather than three, so for stability I've got a 1x4 stretcher screwed on the middle crossbars. But the costume rack is assembled, glued, screwed, and mostly primed.

It's pretty tall considering the kids are all under 5, but it should last well into high school. Four feet tall, four feet wide, and 21 inches deep. I'm actually thinking the lack of a third dowel is good, because instead of placing one in the center of the middle crossbars I'll instead place two on the middle, one at the front and one at the back. They've got a LOT of costumes.

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You could say it's already been done before

New review (shock!) is up for the just-released-stateside Journal For Plague Lovers. This is my only solace for not being able to see them on their first US tour in a decade. And it looks like I'm missing out on a great show.

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