Archive | Science RSS feed for this section

What the future holds

23 Nov

A recent MSNBC piece on autism entitled ‘growing up with autism’ was a well written, well researched and responsibly written article. It highlighted a worry that all parents of autistic kids have – the future. What happens when our kids become adults?

“Once they lose the education entitlement and become adults, it’s like they fall off the face of the earth” as far as government services are concerned, says Lee Grossman, president and CEO of the Autism Society of America…

The same is true over here in the UK as well.

The much discussed Combating Autism Act was to allocate US$1Billion to research and:

Grossman’s early wish for the Combating Autism Act was that it would address the dire needs of autistic adults, and he drafted 30 pages of service-related issues. But that part was never introduced because a consortium of activists working on the bill concluded, for the sake of political expediency, that the bill shouldn’t try to take on too much…

A ‘consortium of activists eh?’ – lets not beat around the bush here. This consortium was the mercury militia – A-CHAMP, the NAA, SafeMinds, Autism Speaks, Generation Rescue etc. They wanted the money to go on research searching in vain for a link between thiomersal/MMR and autism. It didn’t quite work out that way, but its painfully obvious that they did manage to scupper the dire need of helping autistic adults.

However, advocacy groups vow that the moment the bill passes, government funding for adult services will become their next priority

Yeah, right. I’ll believe that when I see it.

There’s a whole bunch of people here who need to wake up to reality. Autistic adults have been in existence for any number of decades. My great aunt and great uncle, both born before 1920 were amongst them. The Autism Hub has some of them. They had no services beyond institutionalisation. Autistic adults currently have little to no services. This is not a new scenario and it behooves this ‘consortium of activists’ to put aside their short-sighted, unscientific agenda and step up to plan for the future. A mad dash for a non-existent cure helps no one except the quacks who’s pockets are lined.

So what could help? Well, Lee Grossman’s 30 page document would’ve been a start. The other thing of course is challenging perceptions.

Many families are sustained knowing that, by raising awareness of autism, they have already given their children the gift of a meaningful identity. “If this was 10 years ago, my daughter’s classmates might say she’s the one who talks to herself all the time and flaps her hands,” says Roy Richard Grinker, an anthropologist at George Washington University and father of Isabel, 15. “But if you ask these kids in 2006 about Isabel, they say she’s the one who plays the cello and who’s smart about animals.”

The more peers of the same age group understand about autism, the more likely they are to be kind, caring and integrate them into community life.”

We need to start taking a long term view. This won’t be pleasant for some sections of the community to accept but we must stop looking at autism that something that affects children primarily. We must stop the headlong rush into dangerous, unproven ‘treatments’ that do nothing for autism and start looking at realistic ways we can move society and autistic people closer towards each other. We must start demanding more responsibility of those who elect to paint themselves as authorities on autism and then proceed to dehumanise autistic people with words like ‘poisoned’ and ‘epidemic’ and ‘train wrecks’. We must start to look skeptically at autism organisations who are actually single-issue groups promoting quackery.

We must start to listen to autistic people – adults – about service provision, about the future of autism advocacy. The one certainty in life is that children become adults. To ignore this issue is tantamount to burying one’s head in the sand.

Just Sayin’ Part IV

18 Nov

From autism epidemic to silent pandemic

12 Nov

Developmental neurotoxicity of industrial chemicals (320kb).

CBS news (amongst plenty of others) recently reported on a new study published in The Lancet

Exposure to industrial chemicals may be responsible for a “silent pandemic” of brain development disorders affecting millions of children worldwide, and not enough is being done to identify the risks.

In an essay published online in the journal The Lancet, the researchers identified 202 potentially harmful industrial chemicals that may be contributing to dramatic increases in autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and other brain disorders among children.

Roughly half of the chemicals are in common use, but very few have been tested to determine their impact on brain development.

Right. So ‘very few’ of the chemicals’ have been tested to determine their impact on brain development but they are being touted as the cause of a ‘silent pandemic’? How does that work exactly?

Don’t get me wrong – these things should be looked at to determine their safety but really, this is an example of hysterical journalism. Lets take a look at what the paper itself actually says.

This is from the abstract:

Neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, attention deficit disorder, mental retardation, and cerebral palsy….causes are mostly unknown.

And what about this ‘silent pandemic’? Well, firstly, lets make sure we’re on the same page. This essay ups the ante from ‘epidemic’ to ‘pandemic’ meaning that the ‘epidemic’ is on a large international scale. OK, so –

The underlying idea is that there is a dose-dependent continuum of toxic effects, in which clinically obvious effects have subclinical counterparts. A pandemic of subclinical neurotoxicity is therefore likely to be silent—ie, not apparent from standard health statistics.

The authors draw comparisons between this and the pioneering work which identified the issues of Lead toxicity in kids. However, they fail to note that these studies had actual data to back up their hypothesis. This is in direct contrast to this essay which has no such data. In fact, in relation to the idea of an ‘epidemic’ of autism, the authors admit that:

Some experts have reported that the prevalence of certain neurodevelopmental disorders—autism and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, in particular—might be increasing, but there are few data to sustain that position.

So, its clear that this ‘silent pandemic’, far from being a threat is totally hypothetical. Much as the authors might like to think it has happened, it is not apparent from any data that it has. The authors of this paper certainly failed to present _any_ supporting data.

Indeed, they even (inadvertently?) seem to exonerate thiomersal as a causative agent from their own investigation:

Substantial reductions have already been achieved in mercury use and release from hospitals and incinerators. A related substance, > ethylmercury, has been widely used as a preservative in vaccines, but neurotoxic risk has not been documented.

Very true.

Altogether this is an odd paper, which claims to support the idea that chemicals might play a role in causing neurodevelopmental disorders but fails to provide any evidence for that stance whatsoever.

If I was a more cynical person, I’d say somebody was trying to add to the ‘scientific’ knowledge being accumulated for the Autism Omnibus hearings next year as well as place the idea of poisoning in the public conciousness as well.

There’s a ‘Conflict of Interest’ statement on page 10:

P Grandjean has testified on behalf of the Natural Resources Defense Council in a court case in regard to mercury pollution from a chemical plant in Maine, USA. PJ Landrigan has testified on behalf of the State of Rhode Island, USA, in a lawsuit against the manufacturers of lead-based paint.

Very laudable. However, it fails to mention something else Grandjean is involved with. He’s an expert witness in the Autism Omnibus proceedings. That puts a slightly different slant on this weird essay.

Autism, A Killer App., And A Drug Of Choice

11 Nov

Below is the content from the post of a guest blogger Do’C invited onto Autism Street recently. It concerns the death of Tariq from chelation and the spurious claim that his death was simply down to a bad choice of drugs. I have shut comments off on this post. Please go to Autism Street to comment.

Part One: A Drug Of Choice

Reading here and there on web, one may notice people still scratching their heads about why Dr. Kerry used the drug he did to treat Tariq Nadama. Science blogger, Orac (Respectful Insolence), did an excellent job explaining why there is no right or wrong drug in this case, but there is another bit – Dr. Kerry quite likely used the drug he did, because this is the drug specified in the EDTA chelation “protocol” published by the American College for Advancement in Medicine, a chelation proponent organization.

When CDC scientist Mary Jean Brown recently said “No medical professional would ever have intended to give the child Disodium EDTA”, she was likely unaware of what’s often referred to as the ACAM protocol.

Roy Kerry is a member of ACAM.

The American College for Advancement in Medicine (aka ACAM) is the chelation proponent organization related to the protocol described below.

Protocol citation:
Rozema TC.The Protocol for the Safe and Effective Administration of EDTA and Other Chelating Agents for Vascular Disease, Degenerative Disease, and Metal Toxicity.
The Journal of Advancement in Medicine. 1997;10(1):5-100.

Note: ACAM’s journal is apparently no longer known as The Journal of Advancement in Medicine, and is now known as Clinical Practice of Alternative Medicine.

The protocol is republished in: E Cranton Ed. A Textbook of EDTA Chelation Therapy. 2nd Edition Hampton Roads (2001).

The ACAM protocol for so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy specifically prescribes the use of Endrateâ„¢, the disodium salt of EDTA. Endrateâ„¢ lowers blood calcium. More information about Endrateâ„¢ Edetate Disodium Injection USP safety and professional prescribing is available at this link. Examples of specification of the use of Endrateâ„¢ (DISODIUM EDTA) for so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy within the ACAM protocol include:

P. 9 I. OVERVIEW OF EDTA CHELATION THERAPY

[…EDTA is an abbreviation for the compound Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid. The form approved by the FDA for the treatment of lead poisoning is calcium EDTA. (1,2,3,4,5) The form of EDTA used to treat atherosclerotic conditions, on the other hand, is disodium EDTA, for reasons that will become apparent later. (6,7,8,9) EDTA chelation therapy is part of a comprehensive therapeutic program for the treatment of atherosclerosis. Other components include nutritional and dietary recommendations, oral nutritional supplements, an exercise program, a stress management program, if necessary, and medication, if necessary. On rare occasions, surgical intervention may be beneficial, but the vast majority of patients can be effectively managed without surgical intervention.

P. 10 II. PROTOCOL OBJECTIVES
[…The purpose of this treatment protocol is to assure maximum clinical efficacy and patient safety in the use of Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid, (otherwise known as EDTA or disodium Edetate or the disodium salt of Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid), and other chelating agents in a comprehensive therapeutic approach to the treatment of arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis, and other disorders in which chelating agents have been shown to be beneficial. A knowledge of biochemistry, pharmacology and the basic clinical sciences is assumed. This protocol is also intended to establish international standards for the safest and most effective use of chelation therapy in a comprehensive multi-modality treatment program. In this protocol the use of the term EDTA will refer to the disodium form of the molecule as distinguished from the calcium disodium or magnesium disodium forms. Where appropriate, these other forms of EDTA will be identified as such. Written and oral examinations are offered periodically by the American and International Boards of Chelation Therapy (ABCT-IBCT), to assure that sufficient comprehension of this discipline has been attained.

P. 11 III. CHEMISTRY AND PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIONS OF EDTA

A. Chemical Structure
The EDTA discussed in this protocol is the disodium salt of EDTA. It occurs as a white crystalline powder, soluble in water, slightly soluble in alcohol and mildly acidic. (10)

pp. 43-45 3. Supplies and Equipment

e. Disodium EDTA (Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid), NOT the calcium-disodium salt), is readily available in the United States in 20 ml (3 gram) vials, and is best tolerated without a chemical preservative.

Part Two: Confusion

The protocol clearly indicates Endrateâ„¢ is the drug to be used. Elsewhere, and especially in information readily available to the public, this is unclear and often confusing. ACAM, for all its reassurance about the safety of so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy, rarely identifies Endrateâ„¢ by its proprietary or generic name as the drug prescribed by their members according to the protocol – rather ACAM apparently refers to the drug as “EDTA.” For example, a recent ACAM press release announced a new program to credential chelationists:

The next twelve months will be a most important time for the staff and membership of the American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM). With the help of Applied Measurement Professionals, Inc. of Lenexa, Kansas, ACAM will be undertaking the development, validation, and administration of a national program for use in credentialing individuals as Certified Chelation Therapy Practitioner (CCTP). Chelation therapy is currently used as a treatment for blocked blood flow in arteries (atherosclerosis) by administering ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), a man-made amino acid, into the veins. While EDTA has been used in the past to treat lead toxicity, EDTA also “chelates” calcium, a component of atherosclerotic plaque. This therapy has been employed to improve blood flow through previously narrowed blood vessels, help restore lost bodily function and reduce pain.

This is unusual because there is no drug named “EDTA”. In fact, it ‘s not necessarily clear that the compound exists except as a disodium or calcium disodium salt. This brings up an important point: Endrateâ„¢ is trade name for the disodium salt of EDTA, and Versenate is the trade name for the calcium disodium salt of EDTA. Versenate is labeled for treatment of lead poisoning; because it contains calcium (unlike Endrateâ„¢), Versenate binds with lead preferentially, and leaves calcium alone. More information about Calcium Disodium Versenate (Edetate Calcium Disodium Injection USP) safety and professional prescribing is available at this link.

It’s also unusual that physicians would use the generic term “EDTA” when there is a possibility that doing so might increase the likelihood of confusing Endrateâ„¢ with Versenate. Sound-alike drug names are widely known to be a serious threat to patient safety. Several organizations work to prevent situations in which drugs have similar sounding names, as does the Food and Drug Administration. The sentence “While EDTA has been used in the past to treat lead toxicity, EDTA also “chelates” calcium, a component of atherosclerotic plaque” conflates Endrateâ„¢ and Versenate into a single product – “EDTA.”

This is precisely what not to do. In fact the CDC recently reported a two year-old child died after the unintentional administration of Endrateâ„¢ instead of Versenate. Source: Deaths Associated with Hypocalcemia from Chelation Therapy – Texas, Pennsylvania, and Oregon, 2003–2005. MMWR Weekly. March 3, 2006 /
55(08);204-207.

The “Position Paper on EDTA Chelation Therapy” published by the American College for Advancement in Medicine is sort of baffling. “Disodium magnesium EDTA” is used once, while “EDTA” is used 25 times. The following passage exemplifies the confusion because it seems to suggest Endrateâ„¢ and Versenate are one and the same thing, called “EDTA”.

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (“EDTA”) is a synthetic amino acid first used in the 1940’s for treatment of heavy metal poisoning. It is widely recognized as effective for that use as well as certain others, including emergency treatment of hypercalcemia and the control of ventricular arrhythmias associated with digitalis toxicity.

In point of fact, Versenate was “first used in the 1940’s for treatment of heavy metal poisoning” and is currently labeled for use in treatment of lead poisoning. On the other hand, Endrateâ„¢, the drug specified in the protocol, is indicated for use in “emergency treatment of hypercalcemia and the control of ventricular arrhythmias associated with digitalis toxicity.”

The assertion below is misleading because it refers to the use of Versenate to treat lead poisoning in children, yet the ACAM protocol appears to direct physicians to use Endrateâ„¢ while apparently emphatically directing them not to use Versenate.

Whenever chelation is used in its widely-accepted role to combat lead poisoning, the dosages given even to children are administered much more rapidly than those administered to adults under this protocol.

How peculiar is it that that ACAM’s telephone number is 800-532-3688 or 800-LEAD-OUT? What’s the point of this?

Part Three: Safety In Death

Broad claims of safety are made for so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy in the ACAM position paper. For example:

The Food and Drug Administration determined that EDTA chelation therapy was safe prior to approving the Investigational New Drug protocol for the ongoing double-blind placebo-controlled studies.

It may (or may not) be true that FDA determined “EDTA chelation therapy
was safe” preparatory to beginning research subject to an Investigational New Drug application, but it’s undoubtedly true that a “safe” drug doesn’t carry a “black box warning” on its label. Endrateâ„¢, however, does:

WARNING The use of this drug in any particular patient is recommended only when the severity of the clinical condition justifies the aggressive measures associated with this type of therapy.

The position paper emphatically argues that “restriction to FDA package insert guidelines is inappropriate” with the obvious implication that the use of Endrateâ„¢ for so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy is simply an off-label use of the FDA-approved drug Endrateâ„¢, and as such ought not be restricted. While it’s generally true that FDA doesn’t regulate the off-label use of marketed drugs by physicians, it’s not clear that the use of Endrate in so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy is an “off-label” use. The drug label includes a contraindication warning physicians that Endrateâ„¢ “is not indicated for the treatment of generalized arteriosclerosis associated with advancing age.” Under what circumstances is a contraindicated use an off-label use?

The ACAM position paper incorporates a long quote by JAMA editor John Archer supporting the right of physicians to use approved drugs for off-label or unlabeled indications, ostensibly to hammer the argument home. Ironically, FDA assistant commissioner Stuart Nightingale wrote a response to Dr. Archer in a subsequent issue of the journal and used the example of Endrateâ„¢’s contraindication for use in arteriosclerosis to make the point that physician freedom was not absolute. Archer agreed with Dr. Nightingale in his reply. Source: Nightingale SL. The FDA and drug uses: Reprise. JAMA.1985;253:632.

The claim that there have been no fatalities is difficult to accept in the face of evidence to the contrary:

The safety of this therapy, when properly administered, is not an issue. It is estimated that over 500,000 patients nationally have been safely treated with this therapy by physicians utilizing the protocol developed by the American College for Advancement in Medicine. No reported fatalities have occurred in the United States when the ACAM protocol has been followed.

Following the deaths of fourteen people treated with Endrateâ„¢ in so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy the federal government sued to enjoin a notorious chelationist from all use of the drug – Source: United States v. An Article of Drug*** Diso-tate, et al. It might be objected that this physician used a higher dose than that specified by the ACAM protocol, but the report of expert medical reviewer J. David Spence, M.D. identified the dose used as 3 g. (p. 3), the same dose indicated in the protocol, and in the FDA-approved label for Endrateâ„¢ – Source.

There are other deaths associated with the use Endrateâ„¢ in so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy in addition to these fourteen patients. For example, in March of 1995 Jerry Osuch died the day after receiving his tenth session of so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy as the patient of Dr. Neil Ahner, a physician with “board certification” in chelation therapy, and a member of the ACAM board of directors.

On February 25, 1992 Louis Labbe died following so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy administered by Dr. Daniel Roehm. According to the Sun-Sentinel:

Labbe’s case outraged Dr. Stephen Nelson, then a Broward associate medical examiner. Nelson complained to the state’s medical licensing board that, given the gravity of Labbe’s illness, Roehm should have hospitalized him on his first visit. The Florida Board of Medicine agreed. In June 1992, a three-member panel found probable cause to believe Roehm’s care of Labbe fell below accepted standards. Roehm’s medical records “failed to demonstrate that the doctor even understood how serious and how sick this patient was and how important it was to get some intensive care and some aggressive therapy,” argued Larry McPherson, a state health care agency attorney. The state went on to accuse Roehm of gross malpractice in treating Labbe. Roehm relinquished his medical license in July 1993 to avoid further board action against him. He died in 1996.

Source (for both Osuch and Labbe): They wanted to look better, feel better. Fred Schulte and Jenni Bergal. The Sun-Sentinel. 1999-12-11.

The survivors of Susan Alexander, a 56-year-old woman who died in 2002, filed suit against Progressive Medical Group (PMG), several of its staff members, and Metametrix (a laboratory that offers nonstandard tests). The suit accused the defendants of negligence, fraud, racketeering, and wrongful death. According to the complaint, Ms. Alexander’s heart stopped beating during chelation therapy for alleged lead poisoning that had been diagnosed with a fraudulent test – Source.

On October 31, 1993, the man identified as “W.L.H” died during a course of treatment with Endrateâ„¢ for so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy prescribed by Dr. Eleazar Kadile – Source.

Part Four: What About Autism?

How is it possible for former president and long-time ACAM member Ralph Miranda, M.D. to make like a statement like the following after the death of Tariq Nadama?

“If the child’s death is tied to chelation therapy, it would be the first associated with the procedure since the 1950s”, said Dr. Ralph Miranda of Greensburg. Miranda is the former president of the American College for Advancement in Medicine, a group that sets clinical practice and education standards for chelation and other, similar therapies.

Source: Boy dies during autism treatment. Karen Kane and Virginia Linn. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2005-08-25.

Inconsistent statements about the safety of Endrateâ„¢ and confusion over the identity of the drug used in so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy tends to cast doubt on the integrity of ACAM and its members and their commitment to provide accurate, factual information to the public. Patients considering so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy would do well to remember the case brought by the Federal Trade Commission charging ACAM with “false advertising over promotion of chelation therapy.” This brief synopsis is taken from the FTC press release announcing the consent agreement on December 8, 1998:

ACAM, based in Laguna Hills, California, is an association comprised principally of physicians who administer traditional and complementary/alternative medical therapies including chelation therapy. ACAM promotes chelation therapy in brochures and promotional materials and by maintaining a Web page on the Internet. Chelation therapy involves the intravenous injection of a prescription drug, ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA), which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the limited use of ridding the human body of excess heavy metals.

According to the FTC’s complaint detailing the charges, ACAM’s advertisements and promotional materials for chelation therapy contained such statements as:

Chelation therapy is a safe, effective, and relatively inexpensive treatment to restore blood flow in victims of atherosclerosis without surgery;

Every single study of the use of chelation therapy for atherosclerosis which has ever been published, without exception, has described an improvement in blood flow and symptoms; and

Chelation therapy promotes health by correcting the major underlying cause of arterial blockage. Damaging oxygen free radicals are increased by the presence of metallic elements and act as a chronic irritant to blood vessel walls and cell membranes. EDTA removes those metallic irritants, allowing leaky and damaged cell walls to heal. Plaques smooth over and shrink, allowing more blood to pass. Arterial walls become softer and more pliable, allowing easier expansion. Scientific studies have proven that blood flow increases after chelation therapy.

Through the use of such statements, the FTC alleged, ACAM has represented that EDTA chelation therapy is an effective treatment for atherosclerosis, and that ACAM possessed and relied upon a reasonable basis when making the representations.

The FTC charged that the representations are false and misleading because ACAM did not possess and rely upon a reasonable basis to substantiate the claims – Source.

Six years later in response to the death of Tariq Nadama, ACAM issued a press release in which they invite the public to believe so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy is safe on the basis of the safety and efficacy of “EDTA” for treatment of lead poisoning. ACAM apparently forgot to mention they’re referring to Versenate – the drug their protocol apparently directs physicians NOT to use for so-called “EDTA” chelation therapy. ACAM asserts, “millions of infusions have been administered … without any deaths being noted.” Nevertheless deaths have occurred.

However, it is important to note that IV EDTA is an FDA approved treatment for lead toxicity in children and adults, with an excellent track record for safety. Millions of infusions have been administered over the last 30 + years, without any deaths being noted, when used in accordance with established guidelines. These guidelines were developed by experts in the field and include the intravenous administration of Magnesium Disodium EDTA.

ACAM asserts that, “Chelation Therapy has been clinically helpful for many autistic children who have evidence of heavy metal burdens, and have an impaired ability for detoxification.”

Shouldn’t ACAM explain to the scientific community and to the public why we should believe that lowering blood calcium would lead to clinical improvement in autistic children?

Shouldn’t ACAM explain to the scientific community and to the public why we should believe Endrateâ„¢ would be safe and effective in removing “heavy metals” – like the implied mercury – when the pharmacology of Endrateâ„¢ is sufficiently well known to permit experts to conclude Endrateâ„¢ doesn’t bind effectively bind and remove mercury. In simple terms, if Endrateâ„¢ doesn’t get to the places where mercury accumulates in the body, how would it bind and remove it?

Shouldn’t ACAM provide evidence to the scientific community and to the public proving that “many autistic children … have evidence of heavy metal burdens” (bona fide experts using valid laboratory tests have been unable to do so)?

Shouldn’t ACAM provide evidence to qualified specialists in pediatrics and toxicology that autistic children can be diagnosed with an “impaired ability for detoxification” and explain how correcting this impairment would lead to clinical improvement?

Is it possible that the parents of Tariq Nadama had no idea what they might really be getting into when their son was brought to the U.S. for chelation therapy that turned out to be a fatal attempt to treat him?

Autism, scientology and the moonies

7 Nov

Introduction

I never imagined when I started blogging about autism just how deep the rabbit hole of quackery went. It never ceases to amaze me how the relationships between some of the people deeply involved in the mercury militia start to unravel with some occasionally disturbing results.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve come across some of the most disturbing relationships yet. As the title suggests, there seem to be disturbing links between some mercury militia members and the Unification Church (the moonies) and there are definite links between established scientologists and DAN! as well as other non-DAN! mercury militia resources. Most disturbing of all is the suggestion of a relationship between The Moonies and Scientology with an apparent agenda to encourage the mercury militia and possibly even help finance or otherwise aid the legal fight some parents are undergoing with relation to vaccines and autism.

Autism and The Moonies

The most direct connection between autism and the moonies is that of Dan Olmsted. Olmsted works for UPI which the Unification Church owns. As we all know, Dan Olmsted is a more than ready exponent of the mercury militia belief system, churning out credulous and easily refuted piece after piece. Clearly the aim here is not debate but propaganda.

But still, it never occurred to me that Olmsted might be working towards a UPI agenda until very recently. Not until a second UPI journalist, Lidia Wasowicz started working on the exact same story. Then I became interested. Why have two reporters covering the exact same story from the exact same perspective but independently of each other? Is it possible that some of the senior people at UPI felt Olmsted alone wasn’t getting the job done?

After all, the Moonies make no secret of their aim with UPI (and the Washington Times which they also own):

And how independent is the once-proud UPI? As Moon noted on Nov. 30, 2000, shortly after buying the news service, “The best way to become famous will be to write articles about Rev. Moon. The media organization that employs the reporters who write such articles and publishes them will be respected around the world. UPI was purchased just as it was about to collapse, and it is being supported now. UPI can write such articles.”

Or as the Rev put it on another occasion;

…to establish “the journalism of the Kingdom of Heaven” one first needs “the wire service of the Kingdom of Heaven…”

And to what end?

“Merely reporting the facts of the news will be much too elementary,” explains Moon. A more important role of the media is “to determine how to interpret and evaluate the facts, and thus provide the direction in which the audience is guided.

Quite. Its my opinion we’re now seeing that born out with the doubling up of autism-mercury journalism on UPI these days.

The editor-in-chief at the Washington Times felt so strongly about this that:

Washington Times editorial page editor William P. Cheshire and four of his staff members resigned during Borchgrave’s tenure as editor-in-chief charging that he had allowed an executive of the Unification Church to dictate editorial policy.

Some executives of UPI as well as being Moonies are also in the Korean CIA.

But what’s the motive? Why would the moonies want to push the idea of a vaccine link to autism?

If we take a look at the sort of businesses the Moonies own and/or invest in we can see that they have very healthy interests in two interesting money makers – sea fish restaurants and homoeopathic/naturopathic medicine. One of these interests is blamed for increases in mercury and the other is big business amongst autism/biomed practitioners. I’m given to understand that the US CAM market (Complimentary/Alternative Medicine) is worth about US$28billion per annum. It would definitely be in the Moonies interests for more people to eat mercury containing sea fish and to also buy more CAM products.

But that’s pretty spurious in terms of a link. Its a ‘maybe’. Its certainly not proven.

However, the odd coincidences keep mounting up. Dan Olmsted used to work closely with fellow UPI journalist Mark Benjamin until the latter left UPI. Before he did however, Benjamin also grew interested in the vaccine/autism hypothesis.

So where did Mark Benjamin go after leaving UPI? It seems that in March of 2005, Benjamin published his first story for his new employers – Salon.com. Three short months later, RFK Jr published his misbegotten Deadly Immunity piece. Indeed, two Benjamin articles are quoted on the thiomersal links page on Salon.com

Coincidence? Maybe.

Maybe this is too: An accompanying piece to RFK Jr’s piece was Lujene Clark’s sidebar describing the work of nomercury.org and her son’s autism. Its never been clear to me how Lujene and RFK jr came together to set this up. Until now:

Believe me, Dan Olmsted gets the connection! He is builing (sic) up to a climax with this series to debunk the Kanner theory of autism….He and Mark Benjamin broke the Larium story as well as being instrumental and the driving force behind exposing the Gulf War Syndrome.

Also note the date of this post. Also about three months or so before ‘Deadly Immunity’. The common thread between RFK Jr and Lujene Clark is Mark Benjamin via Dan Olmsted. One current UPI journo and one ex-UPI journo, both coming from a background of a news agency less interested in facts than making sure the ‘right’ interpretation is placed upon events.

But this is still just conjecture. I think its interesting and worth pursuing but it was just playful fantasy until a second UPI journalist suddenly started sharing mercury-militia propaganda publishing duties with Olmsted. That’s the most suspicious thing so far, but even that isn’t _very_ suspicious.

Of much more solid and worrying connection is the one to Scientology.

Autism and Scientology

Everybody knows that Scientology has an almost rabid outlook on psychiatry and what they deem psychiatric labels. Its so bad that Xenu-lover John Travolta is allegedly hiding the fact of his son’s autism for fear of offending his masters in Scientology.

Scientologists have a natural theoretical affinity with the mercury militia and in particular the DAN! ideology. They are firmly against medication and firmly in favour of ‘detoxification’ when combined with saunas. The belief is that detoxification ‘loosens’ the toxins which are then sweated out in intense saunas. Sounds familiar right?

Just like the moonies, scientology has untold business interests in all-natural and CAM based treatments, particularly detoxification treatments. So, when you combine business interests with religious zeal you get people highly motivated to move in on people they target.

Are there any scientologists targeting autism? Oh yes. Scary but true.

There is Nancy Mullan, MD, nutritional psychiatrist and Scientology owned Safe Harbor Medical Director. She attended a conference wherein she:

…reviews one of the most critical nutritional biochemical cycles which, when faulty, can contribute to autism, schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder.

I’ve also been notified by commenter ‘culvercitycynic’ that Ms Mullan is also a registered DAN! doctor.

And here’s another Scientology front: Narconon Arrowhead. The Medical Director is a man named Gerald D. Wootan – he’s also a DAN doctor. Thank you to my anonymous friend who forwarded me that info :o)

Then there is Dr. Julian Whitaker who is with the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, established by the Church of Scientology to expose what the church calls psychiatric violations of human rights and who pushes a variety of CAM treatments including chelation. Guess who he’s friends with?

a special thanks to some special people – […] Dr. Julian Whitaker, Dr.Rashid Buttar…

Then there’s scientologist David Minkoff who once attended a Defeat Autism Yesterday conference, sharing a platform with Rashid Buttar, DAN! doctor Gunnar Heuser and Erin Giffin of Amy Yasko’s practice.

Minkoff is also well regarded by teh folks on Evidence of Harm email list such as MarK Sircus who says of the Scientologist:

…a fine physician…in the chelation and toxicology field like Dr. David Minkoff…

Amazing how far Scientology has managed to insinuate itself into DAN! isn’t it? But is that the end of it? Not by a long chalk.

Scientologist husband and wife team Jean Ross and karl Loren are actively marketing Chelation to autism customers

Another scientologist recently made national television in the US.

In 2002, a schizophrenic named Jeremy Perkins visited a Scientologist doctor called Conrad Maulfair at the behest of his Scientologist mother. Maulfair told Jeremy’s mother that it wasn’t Schizophrenia but in fact high levels of arsenic and metals that were causing Jeremy’s issues. Maulfair _had_ to say this as he cannot, by virtue of his belief in Scientology, accept or diagnose a psychiatric reason to explain Jeremy. He recommended chelation. Jeremy’s mum decided on her own treatment – also not psychiatry – and then in 2003, in the grip of schizophrenia, Jeremy stabs his Scientologist mother to death.

This scientologist, Dr Conrad Maulfair, is a DAN! Doctor. His failure to correctly diagnose has now led to a death.

And here’s Hubbard and Scientology worshipper Dr Arturo M Volpe expounding the benefits of treating autistic children with Methyl B12 and FIRS (far infrared saunas) – he even quotes DAN! Doctor, Sidney Baker.

And then there’s Boyd Haley. Haley was amongst a gaggle of Scientologists making sworn depositions for an amalgam/mercury case in 2002. They lost of course but amongst the Scientologists testifying were: Raymond G. Behm and our old friend David Minkoff. Once again, Boyd Haley demonstrates the calibre of his rationality in the company he keeps and the ‘science’ they present.

There’s also significant Scientology representation amongst the law firms involved the autism/thiomersal litigation. For example, in June 2001 legal firm Baum Hedlund announced a class action lawsuit against thiomersal containing vaccine manufacturers as part of the now defunct Mercury Vaccine Alliance.

Paul Hedlund is described as;

has also been in business with several other Scientologist lawyers, including fellow Slatkin investor George “Skip” Murgatroyd. He and Michael Baum were also both investors with Scientologist ponzi artist Reed Slatkin.

And Michael Baum is described as;

….a former staffer with the Church of Scientology’s Guardian Office (the Church’s secret service operation that preceded the Office of Special Affairs) and is an Unindicted Co-conspirator for his work on Operation Snow White, the domestic espionage case which sent eleven Scientologists to prison, including L Ron Hubbard’s wife.

Its clear to see that Scientology has its claws well into the mercury/thiomersal/chelation/autism community. What that community decides to do about that is a matter for their conscience.

Scientology and Recovery

Last year, Generation Rescue launched a full page advert thanking scientists for their work in establishing a thiomersal/autism connection. Embarrassingly, most of the quoted scientists co-signed a letter stating that their work had essentially been misrepresented.

The background of the advert used the image of a young boy called Baxter Berle who the advert stated was recovered from autism. KNBC News in the US presented a report which contained the following:

So, the school district first diagnosed Baxter and then later removed his diagnosis. What school did Baxter Berle attend at that time? Baxter Berle attended a school called ‘The Learning Castle’ which is alleged to be an elementary ‘feeder’ school for the Renaissance Academy with which it shares a campus (there seem to be about seven separate units on campus all feeding the Renaissance Academy). Here’s a little bit of information about the Director of the Renaissance Academy, Ann Hazen;

Renaissance Academy is truly bringing education back to life through the use of a full academic program, athletics, the Arts, a warm and caring staff coupled with the brilliant study and educational philosophies of humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard.

Yup, they’re Scientologists too. Here’s Ms Hazen’s personal site and here’s a Scientology official website featuring Ms Hazen.

The Moonies And Scientologists – In It Together?

There seem to be disturbing signs of a pact between the Moonies and Scientologists to further their agendas jointly. bear in mind they seem to have mutual interests so it would make sense.

The Council for National Policy was a group started in 1981 by a man called Tim Lahaye. It brought together powerful members of both the Moonie and Scientology groups. From the link;

Beverly LaHaye, as was previously noted, is the wife of Tim LaHaye. She also was and still may be part of the CNP, and also founder of Concerned Women for America. She joined forces with Citizens Council on Human Rights, a group affiliated with Scientology, and Gary Bauer’s Family Research Council, which has benefited as well from Rev. Moon organizations and money. This all under the umbrella of social change and “Christian family values” in America. Mrs. LaHaye and Bauer appeared and spoke together in a 1995 rally against psychiatric practices on children. The question is, regardless of a good cause, is it necessary for these evangelical leaders to join forces with Moon, Scientology and the Intelligence community? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that many groups use charitable giving/participation, patriotic associations and demonstrations of community or national good will to obfuscate their true objectives and agenda, or to conceal and deflect attention from their wrong-doing……LaHayes group, the Council for National Policy, is just one example of evangelical organizations being filled with Intelligence officers, Moon representatives and Scientology members.

Another ‘front’ group was called ‘Americans Preserving Religious Liberty’ (APRL) which was established in 1982. Renowned sociologist Dr Anson Shupe Jr;

….was cognizant of APRL’s ties with Scientology, stating in a 1984 publication that “[b]oth Scientology and the Unification Church were extremely active” in the organization…

So we can see that Scientologists and Moonies have acted together in the past. Whether they are again or not is not a settled question but I hope someone with more resources than me can follow these things up. Autism shouldn’t be associated with cults.

Selling autism

4 Nov

It’s no secret that the Pat Sullivan’s are probably not career rocket scientists – they sell dietary supplements among other things on the internet. They probably lack understanding of even some very basic aspects of autism in my opinion but they seem to have remained benign and polite for the most part. No matter – I’m not a career rocket scientist either. I’d also like to state that I like both Pats. They always make an effort to go to the source which I find admirable.

Which is why I was disappointed by a couple of recent posts on the Sullivan blog.

Pat Jr. posting recently took issue with a post from Autism Diva which described a mercury mum as saying:

Dr Quig [Vice President, Scientific Support for Doctor’s Data Inc. lab] who sees zillion Doctors Data reports had some interesting comments: like TD-DMPS is not transdermal because it doesn’t trans the dermal! Suppositories and IV are generally more effective. He mentioned that none of these really penetrate the blood brain barrier.

Pat got in touch with Buttar to ask him about this. Apparently Buttar was pissed off in the extreme about it. Then Pat found out Buttar spoke to Doctors Data who profusely apologised and explained that:

Dr. Quig was merely saying that TD-DMPS is not good for challenge testing, something that Dr. Buttar fully agrees with. TD-DMPS is a therapeutic chelator that has the advantage of being able to remove metals slowly. But it’s the least effective for challenge tests

Uh – so? Quite aside from the point that the whole issue of challenge testing is fraught with bullshit, Quig never referred to how good or speedy a chelator TD-DMPS was, he said it didn’t work at all. Two very different things.

I’ve recently been having an email exchange with someone who was at one time very close to Dr Buttar’s practice. This person had some very interesting things to tell me about the way Buttar allegedly does business. Maybe Pat or Kevin Champagne could ask Dr Buttar personally just how much his clinic pays for the initial DNA testing he insists all new patients undergo? My source claims that he charges between $200 – _$900_ for these tests. My source further claims that these test kits are provided to Buttar’s clinic _free of charge_ from the test labs. If that’s true, then that’s a hell of a markup. Not illegal by any means but certainly very, very questionable ethical behaviour.

I was then saddened and disappointed to see the Sullivan’s start to market actively to their site visitors:

Now, I have been very, VERY careful not to ever advertise Jigsaw products to the autism community because I felt like it would give my opponents the ability to marginalize my arguments.

Possibly, but much as I like them, I’ve never found the Sullivan’s arguments to be critically thought through or scientifically supported. Possibly in an entry I’ve not read there is something.

Following that, is a paragraph about how a blogger who went to an autism conference listed a bunch of dietary supplements that, by a remarkable coincidence the Sullivan’s also just happen to sell – and are helpfully more than happy to list with clickable links to information and direct purchasing options.

Pat Jr. continues:

“So I guess this breaks my silence on marketing to the autistic community. Sorry.”

That made me a little cross. To the “autistic community”? It’s obvious that at least one Sullivan is maybe either a careless writer or apparently doesn’t understand the difference between “the autistic community” (that would be made up of autistic people), and “the autism community” (the larger community that includes parents of autistic children with money to spend or legally able to incur debt).

Sorry? What no, “we want to earn your business,” or “your satisfaction is our goal.”? All they can offer is a, “You’re a target, sorry”? Of course their motives are irrelevant. They are in business to make money. They’ll probably treat their “marketing targets” according to a business plan. In reality, their intentions say absolutely nothing about whether or not the vitamins, herbs, and lab tests they apparently re-sell do anything (or nothing) for for autism, the autistic community, or the autism community.

In fact, the reason we got involved in the autism debate to begin with was because of the near perfect parallel Pat experienced. It’s also the reason we started the Jigsaw Health Foundation with the sole purpose of providing financial assistance for mercury amalgam removal.

Is Jigsaw health going to contribute to the “autistic community” in some real way? There are
probably schools in your country that could use funding assistance and many families who need in-home education services or other assistance. There are probably autistic adults who need living or employment support services. There might even be valuable autism reasearch somewhere over there. Wouldn’t that contribution be more valid than removing peoples fillings?

As I say, I like the Sullivan’s (even though it states in my ‘evil neurodiverse’ contract I shouldn’t) but I found this glib explanation of Buttar’s skin cream and the follow up targeted sales-speak a little much.

46th Skeptics’ Circle – On a mission from God

26 Oct

Its always the same. I volunteer to do something because its a worthy cause or I really like the thing in question – or both – and then I put it off and put it off and end up scrabbling about at the last minute to sort it out.

So, when I volunteered to host this Skeptics Circle three months in advance I knew that this time I wouldn’t need to put it off again and again as this time I had plenty of time to get organised.

Unfortunately, the bit of my brain that reassures me there’s plenty of time is broken and thats why with less than 30 minutes to go I’m scrabbling about getting the bloody thing organised. Getting a spectacular venue at such short notice is tricky. I do have a few contacts though. Which was good. Skeptics’ would be arriving in about 20minutes time demanding in their evidenced-based ways to be plushly seated and fed.

“Hi, Colnel Jack O’Neil please….look I know it exists….oh for…look, just tell him that Kev rang…yeah, I want to use the conference room for a meeting. What? Promoted? Well…OK…is Daniel Jackson there? Smart arse…not as funny as he thinks. No? Shit. OK…what? Teal’c? Big guy, funny looking. Big on hats. Oh forget it.”

Next try.

“Satan? No? Whoops, sorry Gabriel…wrong fast dial number…hahahaha!”

Try again. Press right key this time.

“Lord of Darkness? Heeeeyyy…how’s it going big guy? Yeah, aside from hot…..oh really? Well if it says a thousand years and you signed it I don’t see how you can moan about it feller. Hey, I’m just saying! Look, shut up a minute – you know that favour you owe me?…..Yes you bloody do!….no *you* look – if it wasn’t for me that Bryan Adams record would still be No.1….look, look, stop it….all I want is the big conference room….what? No the one on the Ninth Circle…..whaddya mean ‘booked’? By who? Oh yeah? Well, you tell Tom Cruise from me that….that….hello? Hello? Bugger!”

This was getting slightly annoying.

“Hey Doc! It’s Kev….Leitch. Kev leitch. Kevin Leitch. I was your assistant just before Billy Pip…uh, I mean Rose. Well, thanks! Nice to know I made an impression! How come you don’t remember me? I was the guy who broke the uppy-downy thing in the Tardis engine room. Yeah…ever get it fixed? Well, thats good…uh…listen, I know I kind of wrecked your only viable mode of transport but I was hoping for a favour…? Just one room for a few hours for me and a few pals….what? No no no, nothing like that….well maybe some beer….whaddya mean ‘how big’? It’s a bloody Tardis! Small outside, massive inside…..look, just for an hour and no beer…well thanks for nothing! I always preferred The Master anyway!”

Dammit.

“Hi…Is that The Others? It is? Cool. Can you just kill Charlie? Yeah, the guy from the Lord of the Rings. Yeah, thats it. Bye”

OK, so I get a little sidetracked sometimes. Back to it…and there was only one thing for it…

“Gabriel? Gabe! Hi! yeah, sorry about before….yeah I spoke to him….he’s fine – well, hot – y’know how it is…..no, no, I guess you don’t…erm…listen I need a favour. No from you, not the big guy. No, no, I’ve got nothing against him….yeah, the beard’s a bit much…look, look, listen – I need a conference room. No, no catering Gabe. I haven’t got the touch the big guy has – two loaves and a couple of fish don’t go very bloody far for me. I dunno….Burger King maybe. Oh for…yes, yes, there’s only one King…Jes- I mean, Chri- I mean for goodness sake, he’s really touchy for an all powerful being isn’t he? Ok, no bloody Burger King….I can? Nice one Gabe! Just a couple of hours. Eh?….for the Skeptics Circle…..hello? Hello? Gabe!? Damnation!”

Re-dial.

“Gabe? Don’t put the phone down! Whats wrong with the septic circle? Hmmm? No, no, *septic* circle. What? ‘Skeptic’? Ha! No way – those guys are losers. No, this is the Septic Circle. We discuss, uh, Septic tanks and the latest news regarding all things, er, septic…wounds…umm. Treatment? Oh, umm, laying on of hands mostly…..No – wait! Prayer, I mean! So – can I have the big conference room? Cheers Gabe you always were my favourite!”

Bloody hell. A skeptics circle in heaven. For a minute I thought the paradox might make my head implode or some such thing but then I remembered to just believe in the power of dreams or whatever and everything was fine.

Next problem – how do you get yourself and several skeptical people into Heaven?

Luckily, we have Google these days so I searched for it.

According to this guy what you needed was:

If you ask most people this question, they will say something like, “If you do more good things than bad things, God will probably let you into heaven.” The above thinking will reserve your place in hell. You need FAITH IN THE BLOOD OF JESUS.

Hell was no good – Tom Cruise had booked the only conference room big enough, the short-arse git. So all I needed was to persuade a bunch of Skeptics to have faith in the blood of Jesus. Should be pretty straightforward.

This was getting silly.

Then I remembered that ‘clapping’ song:

Three, six, nine, The goose drank wine, The monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line. The line broke, the monkey got choked And they all went to heaven in a little row boat.

Frankly, I was dubious. What the hell is a ‘street car line’? And ‘choking a monkey’ sounded suspiciously like something my Grandmother told me would make me go blind. I thought it best to stick to the blood of Jesus thing. A _little_ row boat would never hold *all* the skeptics anyway.

Decision made, I was calm and sanguine when the doorbell rang. I could see the shape of a phalanx of Skeptics through the net curtains and hear the sardonic patter of sarcasm as it echoed down the cul-de-sac I lived in. Game on.

“Welcome all,” I gushed, “come in, take a seat, just a few short words from me and we’ll be off to our scheduled meeting point.”

The phalanx trooped in – I spotted a few familiar faces (Diva, Skeptico, DoC and the sharpshooter eyes of Orac met mine for a minute) and a few people I didn’t know who offered a polite introduction as they came in…Dr Charles, Runolfr, Paul….skeptics’ so hardened and long serving that a permanent air of critical irony came off them like a deeply sarcastic mist.

“OK, everyone in? Good. So, a bit of a change of pace this time….I’ve arranged for us to meet in Heaven.”

Silence. And then Orac asked: “You want us to hold a Skeptics’ Circle in a place that – lets be honest – doesn’t exactly lend itself to critical thinking.”

I nodded. “And to get there, according to some guy on a website, all we need to do is all believe in the blood of Jesus.”

“Seriously?” Said a Skeptic near the back.

I nodded again. “Easy, right?”

Someone laughed nervously (and yet logically). Orac closed his eyes and rubbed his brow. “OK, what do we need to do?”

With a confidence I really didn’t feel, I explained that if each of us expressed our carefully examined and well researched opinion that there was such a thing as the blood of Jesus then we would all be instantly transported to the opulence of the conference room in Heaven I booked with Gabriel awhile before.

“Seriously?” Said all the Skeptics.

“Well, yeah….”

Orac muttered a fairly appalling word and then said, “Right, OK, lets give it a go.” He cleared his throat nervously. “All together…..”

It was one of the greatest moments of my life. Persuading a bunch of Skeptics’ to affirm their belief in the blood of Jesus in order to attend a conference in Heaven. Admittedly, they didn’t look very happy about it, but it worked. Skeptics’ in Heaven. Marvellous.

Once the assembled Skeptics’ had recovered from the shock of being in a place they didn’t believe existed (I explained that Chaos Theory would probably throw up a new type of science at some unspecified point in time called Paradox Theory in which events like this would be commonplace) we settled down to business.

Dr Charles stood up (after he’d finished poking the table with unbelieving pencil prods to establish it was really there) and told the assembled Skeptics’ about the evils of chain letters and how one chain letter in particular had affected his practice in terms of some of his patients feeling the chain letter in question was an excellent diagnostic tool for ovarian cancer. We were off to a good start.

Next, Lord Runolfr told the assembled ranks of Skeptics about how Reiki was not actually ‘spiritually guided life force energy’ at all – an announcement that caused a rumble of appreciation to echo around the room. As an encore, Lord Runolfr explained to everyone just how bad science was abused in Hollywood.

The brilliance of a thousand tiara’s announced the proclamations of Autism Diva. She explained to the assembled ranks that for some institutions, ‘distinguished’ seemed to be a relative term, including people who think Gaia is suffering and that’s why we have autism, or that autism is actually demonic possession.

“I actaully wouldn’t use the word ‘demon’ around here if I were you”, I muttered to Diva as she sat down but she simply threw a spare tiara at me.

Dad of Cameron rose and told the assembled skeptics that despite the assembled scientific might of RFK Jr, jouranlist David Kirby and various other liggers – the mercury-in-vaccines-causes-autism hypothesis was still dead as the rate of autism was still rising even after a few years of mercury-free vaccines.

As DoC sat back down, I remembered who was next up. I rose quickly.

“Um, next up is…uh….Hell’s Handmaiden….” I said, ducking in anticipation of a thunderbolt from our host…..nothing….cool.

The Maiden stood and expounded thoroughly on the formula used by the more credulous examples of creationists to be found littering the web. Was it me or was the sky of Heaven darkening outside?….oh dear….how embarrassing it would be if a bunch of creationist-rejecting skeptics were smitten by a thunderbolt from God.

Luckily, Dr David decided to inject a bit of class into proceedings and started to recite a bit of poetry called I.D. On the Stand. Hmmm….maybe Heaven really hadn’t been the best venue for a Skeptics Circle after all….I shifted uncomfortably as Dr David recited:

…Creationism in the schools had died a legal death…And now as Rothschild rose, Gishville IDers held their breath.

I struggled to recall exactly what God had done to non-believers in the Old Testament. I couldn’t remember but it probably involved boiling oil and pointy sticks and squidgy parts of peoples anatomies. Note to self: next time, if you _must_ do this in a religious setting, try Bhuddist Nirvana. They’re a lot less wrathful and vengeful.

I popped a couple of Rennie’s and munched fretfully as Stuart Coleman stood and asked the assembled skeptics if religion benefited society – and just to really get my stomach acid rising, Stuart went on to comment on the need to create ‘ghosts’ from random shapes.

My indigestion eased somewhat as Archy recounted his look at some incredibly lazy science reporting centered around yet another Atlantis theory. Damn you and your poor attempts at fiction Plato! But at least we were moving away from subject matter likely to cause annoyance in our all-knowing host.

Skeptico stood and pointed out the tired old repetitious fallacies that ID proponents wheel out at the vaguest hint of patterns in nature. Veering close to holy criticism I grant you, but Skeptico took pity on my nerves with lots of fascinating references to the SETI project. He then when on to make the Circle laugh by recounting the time a few days ago when we were all bathed in an ultraviolet pulse beam from higher dimensions. An event so earth-shaking that had Skeptico not told me about it, I don’t think I would ever had known it had happened. Certainly the ‘jump-start in manifesting the things we would like to cocreate in our own lives’ must’ve passed me by.

Next up, the guys from Humbug Online told everyone about some of the best Shonky stuff around including bio-available Oxygen and the Magnetic Laundry System, thus establishing that Aussie punters are just as credulous as Yanks and Poms.

Interverbal rose and clearly and concisely decimated the arguments of some ‘autism epidemic’ apologists by expanding on DoC’s earlier points to show that no matter how one attempted to twist the stats, the CDDS is never going to be a good source of data for autism prevalence.

Orac slapped the table to show his appreciation of Interverbal’s clinical smackdown and then went on to tell the assembled skeptics just exactly what the problem with Deepak Chopra was, coining the marvellous phrase ‘Choprawoo’ into the bargain.

Once the Skeptics had all finished giggling at the phrase ‘Choprawoo’ (personally I doubted I’d ever get tired of it), Seth from a Whiskey Before Breakfast staggered unsteadily to his feet and slurred his way through not one, but two pieces on why magical thinking was bad for people and how magical thinking did not equate to skeptical thinking.

And talking of magical thinking, EoR from The Second Sight told everybody that nothing – quite literally _nothing_ – worked like Homeopathy.

Martin from Salto Sobrius rose next and explained how puzzled he was when people said they weren’t religious but were spiritual and how it seemed to him that the word meant nothing and anything….verging on dangerous ground again – didn’t these skeptics know I had high blood pressure? Luckily my chelationist was waiting for me in his custom 15 door limo-cum-consulting rooms-cum-hyperbaric chamber after the Circle meet up was finished so I knew I’d be all right.

P cleared his throat and proceeded to remind the assembled skeptics about the Strawman fallacy and what a first class example of one he’d come across recently whilst attempting to debate a Christian. ‘Thanks, P’ I thought to myself as I popped another brace of Rennie’s.

Bronze Dog also decided to my indigestion by talking about the appeal to ridicule gambit and, much to my horror, directly addressed the idea of ‘God’ as doggerel…..a definite rumble of celestial thunder sounded outside the door and the room briefly shook. This was going pear shaped. Fast. I needed a safe pair of hands…

Tara stood and told the circle about The failure of alternative medicine – a subject I was profoundly interested in _and_ relieved to be talking about.

Tara indicated she’d finished.

I stood up. “That’s it – everyone’s presented. I’ll close by saying that

a) The Next Circle is at Polite Company on November 9th

b) By way of a party favour, I have this modest bit of fun for you all and

c) I have no idea how to get out of Heaven.”

46th Skeptics’ Circle – Last call

25 Oct

The Forty Sixth Skeptics Circle will be here in 24 hours time….last call for blog entries is 25th oct 10pm GMT.

TV might cause autism?

24 Oct

The blogosphere and certain Yahoo groups are _outraged_ by the idea that a study from Cornell University alleges that TV might have a role to play in autism.

The idea is pretty stupid. Basically, the Cornell guys are saying that because there’s autism in places where there’s lots of rainfall and because when its raining kids watch TV that autism has a link to TV. In fact, that piece of thinking goes beyond ‘pretty stupid’ and inhabits the landscape of ‘hilariously inept’. To give them their due they stop short of claiming a causative connection but they claim its a major piece of the puzzle.

We are not saying we have found the cause of autism, we’re saying we have found a critical piece of evidence

Guys – you _so_ haven’t.

Anyway, the merits of this study aren’t the focus of this post (hilarious as the study is, I couldn’t do better than Joseph’s takedown ). What’s interested me over the last few days are the outraged splutterings coming from a certain section of the autism community.

As they have dumbed down this society over the past generation and people took the history of science courses as opposed to pharmacology/pharmacology, all sorts of insane theories and mischief can emanate from a population of social/mental dingbats whose primary source of production is television shows as opposed to hard goods.

H Coleman, Evidence of Harm Yahoo Group.

First and foremost this is a perfect example of what happens when economists that know nothing of a medical condition try to find some statistical relationship between their beloved data and a condition.

The authors of this study made no effort to explain how TV watching could trigger chronic intestinal inflammation, toxic levels of heavy metals, inability to sleep, hard and bloated abdomens, food allergies or intolerances, and much more.

Kendra Pettengill, EoH Yahoo regular

I could go on but I think you get the idea. In a nutshell, the mercury militia are _not happy_ that TV has been linked to autism. Most of them are not happy because the study is totally ridiculous. On that I agree with them. Some of them are unhappy because they think its a study trying to put the blame back on parents in a bettlehiem-esqe manner. I think thats an overreaction but I can see what they’re saying.

However, a lot are unhappy because it refuses to recognise mercury as being ‘in the mix’. Thats as hilarious, predictable and sad as the study in question.

But I’m _still_ not making my point. My point is this. OK, this TV study is junk but here’s a question for you my mercury obsessed cherubs – what scientific merit does your vaccine/thiomersal/MMR theory have that elevates it above this TV study? I’m going to go right ahead and assert that the vaccine theory has no more causative evidence behind it than this joke of a study.

Both hypothesis have, at their core, an implausible correlation with a couple of self-congratulatory scientists dabbling with numbers that they want to twist to fit their theories. And that’s it. _No_ clinical evidence, no decent epidemiological evidence and a mainstream science community sniggering openly. What this TV theory needs is a bunch of credulous people to form pretentious sounding groups – SAFE TVINDS maybe or Notelly.org, then they can part-fund some crappy science to support the original crappy science, write books, organise marches on Hollywood instead of the CDC, get harvested by a whole new crop of quacks etc etc.

In all seriousness: mercury boys and girls – how you see the TV theory (a mixture of borderline tolerable amusement and offence to science) is exactly how the rest of the world see’s you.

What has autism ever done for us?

23 Oct

I was reading this article the other day where a therapist was detailing her attempts to reconcile a couple on the verge of splitting up due to the horror/abyss/hell/tsunami of autism. Its pretty depressing reading.

It’s a common refrain – how autism has affected someone’s life. Usually there’s a long list of how finances, relationships and life generally have all suffered since the diagnosis entered their lives.

To me, its all about how you approach the issues. Are you someone who sees the glass as half empty or half full? These were definitely half empty people.

I’d like to describe how autism has affected my life.

My wife and I will have been married 10 years next year. Something I consider quite an accomplishment in this day and age. We’ve had a lot of difficult times and rowed often. When Meg was diagnosed we were stunned, angry, hurting. However as we came to accept, we started talking to each other more. We started to back each other up more. We started supporting each other better. Autism didn’t only bring us a beautiful little girl, it brought us each other in a new way.

Naomi and I used to be members of a parent-oriented autism forum. There were a few good people there and a few drama queens. One couple used to complain that they now only managed to get away three or four times a year with each other for ‘little weekend breaks to Prague’. Well, boo-hoo. Poor them. I heard later that the husband of this couple had a nervous breakdown due to the stress.

Right. I hear less than five weekend breaks to Prague per year can do that to a man.

Please note: I’m not belittling anyone who genuinely has had a nervous breakdown. This guy whoever, was (is?) a primadonna without equal.

The last holiday Naomi and I had was our honeymoon. And I couldn’t possibly care less. Naomi has had a couple of breaks with the kids and her parents whilst I stayed here and worked as we couldn’t afford not to be earning. Whenever I hear biomed parents crying over the cost of all that TD-DMPS I roll my eyes and think of that old adage about a fool and their money.

Naomi and I watch DVD’s together, we talk together. We spend hours chatting after the kids are asleep. When we feel like celebrating, Megan and I walk into town, I buy some nice grub, a bottle of wine or three and after the kids are asleep (assuming they go to sleep) we put on nice clothes and have our nice meal with the TV off and the lights down. If Meg’s having a bad night, we take it in turns, a few hours each, to sit with her.

If Anthony’s over for the weekend then we sometimes play Monopoly or cards or we play along with Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I watch the American wrestling with Anthony on TV (possibly the funniest, campest thing on TV).

Because of autism, we found our family.

We have less money than we used to. I can’t pursue the heady heights of my career. Most web developers of my age and experience are head of design studios or successful freelancers. I couldn’t possibly care less. We have enough money to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our backs, the odd DVD collection (Prison Break Season One currently) in the player and lots of time. Because I’m not scaling the corporate ladder, I don’t have to stay late at work. I can get home before the kids go to bed. I can help my wife tidy up. Money can’t buy me the time I get to sit besides the bath as my two girls splash around in it before bedtime. Whilst my friends organise their working lives via their mobile phones, my wife’s sending me stills and video’s of the funny/cute things my kids are up to on mine.

Autism has made me more patient, calmer, confident, determined and considerate. I think I’m a better person and a better husband and father since Megan was diagnosed. So, to echo John Cleese’s classic ‘All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?’ I’d ask ‘Alright, but apart from a great family life, strong bonds with my wife, being a better husband, having the time to be a good dad and generally enjoying life, what has autism ever done for us?’

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →