Callous Disregard price countdown...

Andrew Wakefield's hardbacked spider swatter, Callous Disregard is now available new at Amazon.com for the tidy sum of $4.97. That's £3.20 in sterling - less than the price of a pint in most Central London pubs.

Oh the fucking irony.

From Barry, a typically mindless Age of Autism commenter:

How is that people with no scientific training whatsoever, keep setting the record straight for people who supposedly do?

Try asking Dan Olmsted, Mark Blaxill, Anne Bloody Dachel or John "Cock" Stone, you fucking irony-free dickhead. That's the kind of problem that's got us in this mess in the first place.

Dan Olmsted & crank magnetism

Dan Olmsted at Age Of Arseholery has posted a remarkably stupid "From the editor" piece;

A D.C. developer dies at 59; obit notes he had a cell phone built into his ski helmet. I've had two friends die of the same brain cancer. I'm not so sure these things are so safe, are you?

Firstly, Dan, there's no evidence that mobile phone useage causes brain cancer.

Secondly, anecdote is not data.

Thirdly, if this is a newsworthy story, how about a link to a serious news outlet's coverage of it?

Fourthly, how long does someone wear a ski helmet for? Hardly all day, every day is it?

Still, it's a prime example of crank magnetism - belief in one whacko theory leads onto a belief in all kinds of other crap.

You're either a despicable scaremonger, an utter moron, or both, Olmsted. I know where my money's going.

Age Of Autism in attempt to mislead

Age of Autism today has a story about an antivaxer - "Dr Lisa Morris" - and her experiences being interviewed by NBC for a piece about "Skipping Vaccines". She makes out she's been misquoted, led to believe that the piece would be more sympathetic to her lunatic point of view - all the usual stuff. Like I give even a quarter of a shit. Still, she talks about where she gets her information on vaccination, and makes it sound all very sciencey - and that name, who could fail to be impressed by "DOCTOR Lisa Morris"?

Lisa Morris is a chiropractor. What the fuck does she know about science or medicine, given that she believes in subluxions - a cause of illness only slightly more plausible than the fucking verucca goblin or the ringworm fairy.

Oh, the irony

Click to buy the Age Of Autism t-shirt

I was going to title this post "Jake Crosby is an arsehole", but at the last moment was distracted by a comment of JB Handley's at Age of Autism. (Where else?)

Firstly, Jake "Arsehole" Crosby is bleating that he's been thrown out of a conference for asking what he sees as awkward questions of Seth Mnookin, author of "The Panic Virus". I suspect he was just being an arsehole - but I'd like to see the video footage. However, this is published at Age Of Autism, the online chip-wrapper which praises conferences like Autism One. That's right - Autism One, the organisers of which got seven armed policemen/security guards to throw two anti-anti-vax bloggers out. So, it's OK to do that, but not OK to ask Jake Crosby to leave because he's being deliberately disruptive? (Having read Jake's account of the incident, that's the only conclusion I can come to - that he was deliberately being an arsehole in order to provoke, and, ideally, get thrown out in order to write about it at AoA.)

So, that's why I was going to title this post "Jake Crosby is an arsehole". However, as I said, JB Handley popped up with this gem, which pretty much defines the word "irony".

My heart hurts for parents and families who have had their lives destroyed by idiots masquerading as experts.

Well, quite. Would you like me to list them JB? Actually, just go to Age Of Autism, and hover your mouse over the "Contributors" link in the menu bar. Evil fuckers.