15 replies to this topic

[stocks]

The Lancet published a study based on only 12 cases!!

It's doubtful The Lancet's retraction of a flawed 1998 study will have much effect, because the damage has already been done

In 1998, The Lancet, a leading British medical journal, published a research study that triggered one of the biggest health scares of modern times. It claimed that autism was linked to children's vaccines. The evidence was sketchy – it was based on only 12 cases – but Andrew Wakefield, its lead author, became an instant media celebrity.

Over the next few years, Dr. Wakefield was depicted as a courageous maverick who dared to defy the medical establishment. People's trust in public health – already tested by the mad-cow scare – collapsed and vaccination rates plunged. Before The Lancet article, the vaccination rate for MMR – the three-in-one shot for measles, mumps and rubella – had reached 91 per cent. A few years later, the rate had slipped to less than 50 per cent in some parts of London, and was far too low to prevent serious outbreaks. In 2008, measles was again declared endemic in the U.K.


Since the Lancet study was published, mountains of scientific studies have found no link between vaccines and autism. ...
And yet it took until this week for The Lancet to retract Dr. Wakefield's study. It did so only after Britain's General Medical Council held an exhaustive inquiry and condemned him for acting dishonestly and irresponsibly.

http://www.theglobea...article1455387/

[Rogerdodger]

Before making any medical, health, political, scientific or decisions of any kind, I wait until Oprah, Jim Carey, Jenny McArthy, Phil Donahue, Meryl Streep, Ed Bradley, Geraldo and other noted experts weigh in with their opinions.
Media Fabrications:

• 1 ABC, Food Lion Story (1992)
• 2 ABC 20/20, "Buckwheat" (1990)
• 3 ABC 20/20, "Exploding Fords" (1978)
• 4 Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press (2005) - Alumni Players
• 5 Michael Bellesiles, Arming America Fabrications
• 6 Jayson Blair, New York Times (2003) - Article Fabrications
• 7 Paul Bradley, Richmond Times-Dispatch (2006) - Bush Immigration Speech
• 8 CBS 60 Minutes, the "Runaway Audi" (1986)
• 9 Philip Chien, Wired News (2006) - Fabricated Sources and Quotes
• 10 Janet Cooke, Washington Post (1980-1981) - "Jimmy's World"
• 11 Maureen Dowd, New York Times (2003) - Misquoting President Bush
• 12 Walter Duranty, New York Times (1930s) - Russian Propaganda
• 13 Hassan Fattah, New York Times (2006) - Abu Ghraib Photos
• 14 James Forlong, Sky News (2003) - Falsified Combat Footage
• 15 Jay Forman, Slate (2001) - Monkey Fishing
• 16 James Frey, A Million Little Pieces - Fabricated 'Nonfiction Memoir"
• 17 Andrew Gilligan, BBC (2004) - Unsubstantiated Claims Against the Iraq War
• 18 Stephen Glass
• 19 Diana Griego Erwin, Sacramento Bee (2005) - Fabricated People in Her Columns
• 20 Jack Hitt, New York Times (2006) - Misreported Abortion
• 21 Michael Isikoff, Newsweek (2005) - Koran Toilet Incident
• 22 Jack Kelley, USA Today (2004) - Dishonest Reporting
• 23 Rigoberto Menchu, I Rogoberto (1983) - Fabrication of Personal Experiences
• 24 Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher (2006) - Story Fabrication
• 25 NBC, Waiting to Explode (1992) - False Evidence and Footage on GM Trucks
• 26 Christopher Newton, Associated Press (2002) - Falsified Sources
• 27 Tim Ryan, Honolulu Star-Bulletin (2006) - Plagiarism
• 28 Ruth Shalit, The New Republic (1995) - Plagiarism
• 29 Patricia Smith, Boston Globe (1998) - Fabrication of People and Quotes
• 30 Barbara Stewart, Boston Globe (2005) - Canadian Seal Hunt
• 31 The Daily Egyptian, (2005) - Iraq Soldier Hoax
• 32 Washington Post (and others) - "Plastic Turkey" story (2003)
• 33 Gary Webb, San Jose Mercury News (1996) - CIA Articles

Alar: The Great Apple Scare

This article is the ninth in a continuing series excerpted from the book Smoke or Steam: A Guide to Environmental, Regulatory and Food Safety Concerns, by Samuel Aldrich, excerpted and abridged by Jay Lehr.

Against a background of a skull and crossbones, overlaid on a red apple, the late Ed Bradley appearing on CBS TVs "60 Minutes" on February 26, 1989 said:

"The most potent cancer-causing agent in our food supply is a substance sprayed on apples to keep them on the trees longer and make them look better. That's the conclusion of a number of scientific experts, and who is most at risk? Children who may someday develop cancer."

Almost overnight the Alar story seemed to be everywhere: Phil Donahue, the Today Show, Women's Day, CNN, The MacNeil/Lehrer Report, the Washington Post, the New York Times, etc. Actress Meryl Streep announced on TV the formation of Mothers and Others for Pesticide Limits.

Enormous Consequences
Within a short time, apple juice and apple sauce were thrown away. Apples were taken out of school lunches, and parents on the border of hysteria called the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about risks of cancer to their children.

The publicity campaign was so effective that sales and prices of all apples declined sharply, and 20,000 apple growers in the U.S. suffered substantial financial harm--even the large number who never used Alar.
Farmers went bankrupt. The government spent $9.5 million of taxpayer money to reimburse apple growers.

A consumer group called Citizen Alliance claimed Florida grapefruit contained Alar residue. As a result, tons of grapefruit were left to rot on docks in South Korea in 1989, and 1990 shipments were predicted by some to be reduced by 90 percent.
Growers and exporters suffered great financial loss, and South Koreans were denied a healthful food, all because of a lie. Alar is not even used on citrus. The alarm was a hoax.

All of this occurred because of a carefully orchestrated public relations campaign that was unequaled in the history of environmental activities until global warming fear-mongering surpassed it.

Testing Showed Alar Safe
Alar is the trade name for a compound that was sometimes sprayed on apple trees before apples formed, to reduce early drop, thus extending the harvest season. It also extended the shelf life of apples and improved their color, which we now know increases their nutritional value.

The compound was extensively tested before 1966 and cleared for use by the U.S. government. In laboratory tests, the amount fed to mice before any effect was noted was equivalent to an average adult eating 28,000 pounds of Alar-treated apples each year for 70 years, or a 10-pound infant eating 1,750 pounds per year.

Bogus NRDC 'Evidence'
In 1986 the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a self-appointed environmental activist group, challenged the safety of Alar, especially for children, and asked EPA to declare Alar an "imminent hazard," which would have allowed banning it at once.

The NRDC claimed to have scientific evidence showing Alar might cause cancer. The alleged evidence, however, was never published where it could be reviewed by qualified scientists.

EPA set up a "special review" panel--which rejected the NRDC results just three weeks before the 60 Minutes program.
The Scientific Advisory Panel for EPA concluded NRDC's "evidence" was flawed and rejected it because it did not conform to standards of research and review established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In April 1989, Science magazine condemned the NRDC report.

CBS Ignored Evidence
Alar had in fact been eliminated in baby food three years earlier by Gerber, Heinz, and Beech Nut, and other companies eliminated the use of Alar in other products soon afterwards--because of unfavorable publicity, not because of any safety hazard.
Despite this, according to Reed Irvine of Accuracy in Media, the NRDC arranged with CBS to air its report, "Intolerable Risk: Pesticides in our Children's Food," on 60 Minutes.
In the book Fear of Food (Free Enterprise Press, 1990), Andrea Arnold characterized NRDC's Alar scare as "a deliberately misleading environmentalist fund-raising campaign."

Shameful Collusion
Eight months after the first 60 Minutes presentation on Alar, as a result of an Accuracy in Media report, the public began to hear about the despicable collusion between NRDC and CBS. Few, however, were aware that in 1988 NRDC had hired Fenton Communications, a public relations firm, to plan and carry out the campaign against Alar. Fenton arranged months in advance for the 60 Minutes television segment.

Belatedly, apple growers tried to counter the effect of the Fenton campaign with reassuring statements from scientists, the Department of Agriculture, and EPA itself. But the message was buried under the avalanche of negative publicity generated by the NRDC misinformation project.

Scare Campaigns Continue
Science magazine in 1989 suggested "it may be time to develop appropriate measures so that victims of irresponsible information have redress." In 1991 Colorado adopted a statute that would make those who cast needless doubt on the safety of perishable agricultural food products subject to a fine up to three times the cost of lost sales.
Apple growers sued in Yakima County, Washington asking for $250 million in damages against CBS, the NRDC, and Fenton Communications, but never received anything.
While most people still recall the historic Alar scare, few recognize the malevolent intentions of the groups involved. Thus, similar unjustified scare campaigns are likely to be repeated.

Edited by Rogerdodger, 06 February 2010 - 01:58 PM.

[Rogerdodger]

What is the I.Q. of a lemming?

[OEXCHAOS]

Apple growers sued in Yakima County, Washington asking for $250 million in damages against CBS, the NRDC, and Fenton Communications, but never received anything.

You may not be aware of this, but the primary "Pro Global Warming" blog, RealClimate is owned and supported by Fenton Communications and/or its associated entities.

Basically, they are the "mouthpiece of evil".

[stocks]

The Lancet published a study based on only 12 cases!!

Study that linked autism with MMR vaccine was a fraud: British Medical Journal

So much for "peer review"

The BMJ, delving into the accuracy of the study as opposed to its ethics, said Sunday Times investigative journalist Brian Deer had "unearthed clear evidence of falsification".

Not one of the 12 cases, as reported in the study, tallied fully with the children's official medical records, it charged.

Some diagnoses had been misrepresented and dates faked in order to draw a convenient link with the MMR jab, it said.

Of nine children described by Wakefield as having "regressive autism," only one clearly had this condition and three were not even diagnosed with autism at all, it said.

The findings had been skewed in advance, as the patients had been recruited via campaigners opposed to the MMR vaccine, the journal added.

And, said the BMJ, Wakefield had been confidentially paid hundreds of thousands of pounds through a law firm under plans to launch "class action" litigation against the vaccine.

Deer, in a separate piece published by the BMJ, compared the scandal with the "Piltdown Man" hoax of 1953, when a supposed fossil of a creature half-man, half-ape turned out to be a fake.


Autism

[Rogerdodger]

Autism Study an 'Elaborate Fraud'

Confirmed: Study that linked autism to vaccinations a total fraud

Autism and vaccinations: Study debunked

LOL! You beat me to it.

How many more frauds have been perpretrated on us?
Piltdown man, DDT, Alar, Silicone Implants, Street lights, Carbon emmissions, Origin of species, ETC...
Piltdown man was one of the most famous hoaxes in science.
As the rioters tried to burn the witch in Monty Pytheon's Holy Grail, they had to admit they did do the nose..."and the hat."
"But she has a wart!"
Proof enough!

Edited by Rogerdodger, 06 January 2011 - 01:26 PM.

[MaryAM]

Autism Study an 'Elaborate Fraud'

Confirmed: Study that linked autism to vaccinations a total fraud

Autism and vaccinations: Study debunked

LOL! You beat me to it.

How many more frauds have been perpretrated on us?
Piltdown man, DDT, Alar, Silicone Implants, Street lights, Carbon emmissions, Origin of species, ETC...
Piltdown man was one of the most famous hoaxes in science.
As the rioters tried to burn the witch in Monty Pytheon's Holy Grail, they had to admit they did do the nose..."and the hat."
"But she has a wart!"
Proof enough!

We have a whole population with psychology degrees that depend on psychiatric diagnoses being maintained defined as DISORDERS AND NOT DISEASES because they have no medical training. Autism is likely a DISEASE due to a genetic deletion on Chromosome 22 among other possible genetic problems. However, this would expose these crap psychology degrees as nothing more than a fraud and their education as nothing more than bogus crap - trying to council someone out of schizophrenia when in fact their brain didn't develop properly due to a genetic defect. BUT they can bill an insurance company. I am deeply involved in this problem - I have a schizophrenic son - and I had to take him to Canada to get a correct diagnoses and eventually save his life because the mental health system in this country was trying to kill him and they wanted me to aid them in their effort. Canadian doctors did genetic tests for not only the deletion ( because they though HIS ENTIRE MEDICAL HISTORY MIGHT BE IMPORTANT) but also tested him genetically to determine what medications would work. He is doing fine but is on some pricey meds but they work and he is quite functional today. The connection between Chromosome 22 Deletion - aka VCFS - and mental illness was first published in 1985 - AND WHAT YEAR IS THIS. Why aren't they genetically testing autistic kids as well as ADHD kids? http://www.vcfsef.org/ Down load their fact sheet. My son had multiple physical symptoms prior to his psychiatric diagnosis - who knew that flat feet, inguinal hernia, deviated septum, no enamel on baby teeth, facial characteristics, etc, would have a common genetic deletion association. Politics and science should not be allowed to co-exist.

Mary Anne

[Rogerdodger]

Politics and science should not be allowed to co-exist.

Probably they have always been bed fellows.

Edited by Rogerdodger, 08 January 2011 - 11:19 PM.

[stocks]

EPA Administrator Claims Regulating Drinking Water Supply Prevents Kids from Getting Autism

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson told a Senate panel that preventing children from being exposed to contaminated water could spare them from autism.

“Our science may be good, but I don’t know how you price the ability to try to forestall a child who may not get autism if they’re not exposed to contaminated water,” Jackson said

EPA

[stocks]

A Plausible Theory of Autism

Are high-achieving parents who met at work behind rise in autistic children?

Engineers, scientists and computer programmers who meet their partners at work may be fuelling an increase in cases of autism.
Researchers at Cambridge University are working on the first ‘clear test’ of whether the occupation and university choices of high-achieving parents affect the chances of their child developing the condition.

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the university’s Autism Research Centre, said there are currently several clues that parents who work in the fields of maths, science and engineering might have a higher risk of having an autistic child.

Previous studies have suggested that the condition is more prevalent among people who are ‘systemisers’ – those who do jobs relating to systems and how they work, such as computer programmes or machines.

One study in 2001 showed mathematicians have higher rates of autism than those in other jobs, and another in 1997 showed that children and grandchildren of engineers were more likely to be on the autistic spectrum.


Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1f2U2mJ7v