Measles

by

In the UK, the Thames Valley Health Protection Unit has issued a letter to the parents of every single child via the local Education Authorities because there has been an increasing number of cases of measles during 2011, especially among children. A similar rise has been observed in other countries in Europe, especially France, but also including Spain, Romania, Bulgaria and Germany. What has been happening is that folks have been away on vacation, and as a result their unimmunised children have been picking up measles, and then bringing it back.

In the US it is a similar story, they are on course to have its worst outbreak of measles in more than a decade. Travellers are catching the highly contagious illness while on vacation, then bringing it back to the U.S.

What is going on here?

Read more

Archbishop’s ‘discomfort’ at Hitler suicide

by

Apparently its not just an Archbishop, but plain old run of the mill Bishops, that are now stepping into the public arena to suggest that taking out Osama, the utterly contemptible psychopath on a self-appointed mission to murder by devine appointment, was not a good idea.

You can read press stories on that here.

So how can one possibly respond to that? perhaps with satire like this …

Archbishop’s ‘discomfort’ at Hitler suicide

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has expressed ‘deep discomfort’ over the suicide of Adolf Hitler.

‘One cannot help but feel the man was driven to it,’ Dr Williams told a London press conference. ‘It can’t have been much fun to have all the armies of Europe and the Americans on your bunker doorstep shooting at you.’

Read more

Supermassive black hole rises and shines

by

Science News reports that Astronomers watch as wake-up call rouses slumbering monster … It’s unclear whether it was a stellar meal or simply gas that woke the sleeping giant. But astronomers say the ongoing outburst recorded by a spacecraft since March 28 is the first time scientists have witnessed the sudden activation of a dormant … Read more

Trust Me, I’m a Scientist

by

Great article in the latest Scientific American by Daniel T. Willingham. He is a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and the author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?”. His article discusses why so many people choose not to believe what scientists say, so is of direct interest to skeptics.

A friend of mine has long held that a vaccination his son received as an infant triggered his child’s autism. He clings to this belief despite a string of scientific studies that show no link between autism and vaccines. When the original paper on such a link was recently discredited as a fraud, my friend’s reaction was that it will now be more difficult to persuade people of the dangers of vaccination. He is not alone: nearly half of all Americans believe in the vaccine-autism link or are unsure about it.

Read more