Perverting science for politics

[BigV]

More appropriately posted here.

[warch]

He's a piece of work.

[russotto]

There have been other thimerosal-related studies which haven't shown a link, so this one isn't cut and dried. Personally, I think the link is there. I agree with the shield for the vaccine producers, though; if anyone should be on the hook here, it's the governments which require the vaccines.

[Happy Monkey]

The link between thimerosal and vaccines may not be 100% (Nothing in science is), but the link between Frist and the coverup and the "Eli Lilly Protection Act" certainly is. A proper political response to a risk like this is to remove the product from market pending further testing, not to hide the damning studies and ensure nobody is held responsible.

[warch]

From Kennedy's article:

What is most striking is the lengths to which many of the leading detectives have gone to ignore -- and cover up -- the evidence against thimerosal. From the very beginning, the scientific case against the mercury additive has been overwhelming. The preservative, which is used to stem fungi and bacterial growth in vaccines, contains ethylmercury, a potent neurotoxin. Truckloads of studies have shown that mercury tends to accumulate in the brains of primates and other animals after they are injected with vaccines -- and that the developing brains of infants are particularly susceptible. In 1977, a Russian study found that adults exposed to much lower concentrations of ethylmercury than those given to American children still suffered brain damage years later. Russia banned thimerosal from children's vaccines 20 years ago, and Denmark, Austria, Japan, Great Britain and all the Scandinavian countries have since followed suit.

"You couldn't even construct a study that shows thimerosal is safe," says Haley, who heads the chemistry department at the University of Kentucky. "It's just too darn toxic. If you inject thimerosal into an animal, its brain will sicken. If you apply it to living tissue, the cells die. If you put it in a petri dish, the culture dies. Knowing these things, it would be shocking if one could inject it into an infant without causing damage."

and this is disturbing, too.

The CDC paid the Institute of Medicine to conduct a new study to whitewash the risks of thimerosal, ordering researchers to "rule out" the chemical's link to autism. It withheld Verstraeten's findings, even though they had been slated for immediate publication, and told other scientists that his original data had been "lost" and could not be replicated. And to thwart the Freedom of Information Act, it handed its giant database of vaccine records over to a private company, declaring it off-limits to researchers. By the time Verstraeten finally published his study in 2003, he had gone to work for GlaxoSmithKline and reworked his data to bury the link between thimerosal and autism.

Vaccine manufacturers had already begun to phase thimerosal out of injections given to American infants -- but they continued to sell off their mercury-based supplies of vaccines until last year. The CDC and FDA gave them a hand, buying up the tainted vaccines for export to developing countries and allowing drug companies to continue using the preservative in some American vaccines -- including several pediatric flu shots as well as tetanus boosters routinely given to 11-year-olds.

[Griff]

If you don't see it close up you have no idea how disruptive having a child with autism can be. I could tell some scarey tales but we are very careful not to ever give out any personal information about our kids. One of my colleagues wrote a paper on the connection or lack of one last semester. She couldn't find a link but then again the CDC doesn't let researchers use their data. An interesting side note Don Imus has been on a bit of an autism rant for a while now. It seems the Wall Street Journal had an oddly timed and lie filled hit piece on his ranch which he attributes to giving air time to folks who are trying to prove the link. Also Kennedy was supposed to do the talk show circuit yesterday for this article which will also be in Rolling Stone. He was cancelled from the Today Show and some other booking...

It'll be interesting to see what Santorum does on this. He has been very supportive of autism research but he also knows how conservative nutball$ get elected in this country.

edit: oh yah, I've long wondered if the Chicoms would ever use their access to Americas kids(toys crayons cookware) to poison their future. It turns out thats may have been the unintended (I pray) result of the USAs third world vaccination program. How long have they known and how do CDC folks go from protecting to poisoning?

[Brett's Honey]

From 2000 to 2004, I worked at a sheltered workshop for adults with developmental disabilities. I have tremendous respect for these parents. I cannot imagine being in their shoes. I couldn't even imagine working with them eight hours a day! (I worked in administration). You see people organizing help and gathering support for parents of quintuplets, sextuplets, etc. That's wonderful and also needed, but parents of children with disabilities could always use some help, I'm sure. It's impossible for them to just be able to go out for dinner, or a movie or just to visit friends at times. And the parents of multiple birth babies eventually don't need any help. These parents can use a helping hand forever!
(And I always think...parents of multiple birth babies chose to do this! What if the help didn't come!?)

[Griff]

You are so right BH. Get to know these kids and help their parents out, the rewards can't be described.They really are a wonder. If you guys ever get the chance spend some time with them. I was warned about getting caught up in the autism world by a professor once. Being with these kids is really habit forming. My guys are so loving and bright at one moment and frustrating and violent the next that I really can't let go. I need to understand what's happening in their minds.

[Happy Monkey]

Here's a collection of fodder for this thread.

[tw]

Global warming does not exist. Therefore the mental midget's administration is quietly killing off science projects that would discover what is happening on earth. Meanwhile we continue to fund what George Jr wants such as building an ISS that does no science, funding 'man to Mar' and 'man scratching for water on the moon' programs, liberating a nation that did not want to be liberated, and building military bases to liberate the next nation. Among science being terminated according to ABC News of 6 Mar 2006:

NASA's Earth Observing System was conceived in the 1980s as a 15-year program that would collect comprehensive data about the planet's oceans, atmosphere and land surface. ...
Landsat, a series of satellites that have provided detailed images of the ground surface for more than 30 years, is in danger of experiencing a gap in service. ...
... a satellite designed to measure rainfall over the entire Earth, the Global Precipitation Measurement mission, has been pushed back to 2012. But the satellite it is designed to replace, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, can't possibly last that long. That means there will be a period of several years when scientists have no access to the accurate global precipitation measurements that help them improve hurricane forecasts and predict the severity of droughts and flooding. [how politically convenient]
... scientists working on the Hydros mission received a letter canceling their program. They were developing a satellite that would measure soil moisture and differentiate between frozen and unfrozen ground, an increasingly important distinction since melting of the Arctic permafrost has accelerated over the past several decades. The satellite also would have improved drought and flood forecasting.
... Deep Space Climate Observatory, a project he has led for more than seven years, would be canceled. ... The observatory would have provided valuable information about how clouds, snow cover, airborne dust and other phenomena affect the balance between the amount of sunlight Earth absorbs and the amount of heat energy it emits. And because it would have hovered between Earth and the sun at a distance of roughly a million miles, it would have been able to observe the entire sunlit surface of the planet constantly. Such observations could greatly enhance scientists' understanding how much the planet has warmed in recent years and help them predict how much warmer it will get in
the future.
A new generation of weather satellites being developed jointly by NASA, the Department of Defense and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has gone so far over budget that federal law requires a review of whether it is worth continuing. [A current version is Tiros N. It was fixed and launched causing speculation how long it will survive especially with no backups available.] The current generation of polar-orbiting weather satellites is critical to weather forecasting because it offers a complete picture of the planet every six-hours. ... it gives meteorologists the ability to track weather systems as they evolve in both time and space. Weather forecasts could be compromised if the launch of the final satellite from the previous generation of polar orbiters, scheduled for late 2007, fails. The chances of a satellite failing on launch are typically about 10 percent.

And nobody thought levees would be breached. Sending a few C-130s demonstrated America's resolve to a few Tsunami victims. Fighter planes were never authorized to protect American buildings from hijacked airliners while a president flew around hiding somewhere in the mid west. But this president tells us his job is "Haaa..rrrrr..dddd". And yes that is a direct quote from the mental midget who could not even authorize the USS Bataan to rescue people in nearby New Orleans.

How does one spell impeachment? Oh. That means Cheney would be president. He already is. Even the Three Stoogers could not write a comedy this perverse. Nobody expected a Spanish Inquisition. Or is the screwing of America also called "Mission Accomplished".

[Elspode]

Dude...the easiest, quickest and cheapest way of proving that there are no serious problems on Earth is to simply avoid trying to find them. No data? No problem.

If satellite and space guys want to get something done, they need to get the funding pipelines flowing and develop something to *sell* to someone. Research costs money unless it results in a consumer product, and right now, no one in Washington can see past the bulging wallet of the nearest lobbyist standing in the receiving line.

As a corollary to Patrick's post, If you have already decided there is NO problem, why spend money on a non existent wild goose chase? In addition, if you already know that you are not going to spend a penny on the hypothetical wild goose, even if it was discovered, why bother? The Bushco Gang has managed to stash enough ill gotten gain so that they and their grandchildren will be insulated from any goose dropings in the event such things exist. The rest of you - you're on your own!

PS You make pick up your cooked goose on aisle 7. Please form a single line and proceed in an orderly fashion. There's plenty of cooked geese for everyone.

[tw]

Stupid me. I forgot. Research, education, innovation, and knowledge are expenses. The only purpose of mankind is profits. How could I have forgotten what they taught me in business school?

[Elspode]

The business model has changed. It now is only applicable to people who already have money. Besides, anyone can get filthy, stinking rich in this country. Ask Rush Limbaugh...I just heard him say it on the radio this morning. And you know, since he's such an incredible doofus, yet has managed to avoid prison for breaking laws that he would gladly see other people put away for breaking, and still has a pile of cash...I am almost inclined to believe that that old saw is still true. Know what to kiss and when and for how long, and you, too, can become wealthy by pandering to those with money.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Even a newborn knows enough to suck the teat that has the milk.