A week and a half ago, Orac announced in an update that a number of issues had conspired to lead him to take a blog break. In reality, he had a faulty part that needed repairing. So he found an excellent repair technician to fix the faulty part, after which he rebooted and is now currently doing a complete set of systems diagnostics. After all, it’s not as though Orac hasn’t appeared to malfunction before.
Although he is cranky and arrogant, Orac is also benevolent (mostly), which is why he has chosen to update his readers on his progress and announce the anticipated date of his return to full functionality. The systems diagnostics have been going well, with the repaired part slowly integrating into his programming and beginning to function properly. Orac now anticipates a return to full function on April 15. He thought about coming back sooner, given how many occurrences that cry out for his brand of Insolence that have occurred in the brief time that he’s been offline. However, Orac decided, for once in his existence, to be patient and wait for full functionality to return, rather than to push himself, as he did when this particular malfunction first began.
Maybe when Orac does return, he’ll stop speaking in computer metaphors about his procedure. Or maybe not. No promises. Some things are private, even for Orac. As for why there’s been a lot of activity on Twitter, well, Twitter works much better using a smartphone than WordPress does. Consider it part of the diagnostic testing, a test run of Orac’s skills post-repair. If you see Orac’s counterpart say that he’s going to try acupuncture to speed his return to full function, for instance, you’ll know more testing and tweaking are necessary.
104 replies on “A brief update: When will Orac return?”
Best wishes for full integration of the repaired module and return to complete functionality.
And enjoy the time off as far as possible.
Orac writes,
In reality, he had a faulty part that needed repairing.
MJD says,
Guessing you got a Cochlear™ Nucleus® 7 implant. Hoping you’ll start listening better with enhanced reasoning thereafter. Your RI friend MJD wishes a speedy recovery.
While I am generally opposed to long-distance diagnosis, I am of the opinion that you do pretty well for someone with a brain that consists of two neurons joined by a spirochete, but not any better.
Keep on distimming the doshes of dochniak mightily, and maybe one day you’ll have a revelation.
Hey! “Two neurons connected by a spirochete” is MY line! ?
No apology, Orac, I learned that one before there was even an Internet.
Alas, even the dodgy dosher’s spirochete just quit in disgust.
.
Best of luck to our beloved Blinkenbox on his new Service Patch.
Wow.. there are truly no depths to which you will not sink eh MJD?
Let us never forget Orac’s malfunction which resulted in a series of repetitive RI posts:
https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2011/05/10/anti-vaccine-contortions-they-never-end/
https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2011/11/13/welcome-back-my-friends-to-the-thread-th/
https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2011/12/02/mr-michael-dochniak-meet-prometheus/
Q. Why is Orac never accused of missing a screw.
A. He has a crew of minions fixated on his well-being. (See image at beginning of post)
Sometime I get to wonder: is there a phrase able to include “Captain Bµtthµrt” and “two neurons connected by a spirochete” to describe MJD…
I mean, 2011 –> 2019 look forward to be a record for bµtthµrt length…
Alain
MJD calling someone “repetitive”.. there goes another set of irony meters!
“\Wow.. there are truly no depths to which you will not sink eh MJD?”
Yes, there are. When you try to push a beachball under the water, it will pop right up again. Same thing with idiocy.
May your repairs be complete and without issue, Orac!
No offense intended but, I suspect discussing your issues in computer metaphors may turn out to be far more amusing than actually sharing health details. I am just pleased to hear that the new parts seem to be working as designed.
Take all the time you need. The blog has been well protected by your faithful Guardian of Insolence during your absence.
” A week and a half ago…. he had a faulty part that needed repairing”
You’re MICK JAGGER? **
Oh no, Orac:Tell me it isn’t true.
You are (OBVIOUSLY) much smarter, younger and not as filthy rich. All admirable points..
Hope your integration goes well.
** a few weeks ago, I saw a picture of the singer and remarked that he looked to be about 100, give or take a decade: did I actually see anything ‘diagnostic’ being that he needed a heart valve? It was the quality of his skin that set off alarms for me: he looked worse than 90-somethigs in my family who had heart issues.
Mick Jagger looks better than Keith Richards.
Keith Richards looks better than Keith Richards!
Both seem to be excellent examples of “city miles” or that old horse metaphor “rode hard and put away wet”.
(Never put you horse away wet from sweat. You need to walk them cool and dry them off. I don’t know what happens if you don’t but it’s a bad thing.)
The best comment I heard about Keith Richards – traces of blood have been found in his heroin stream…
No, he just has the moves like Jagger.
A while ago I heard a half-relevant joke:
Every time you smoke a cigarette God takes a minute off your life….
…and gives it to Keith Richards!
Best wishes for a full and successful reboot Orac!
There’s definitely no shortage of woo that would benefit from an insolent appraisal.
Did you know that acupuncture is so terrific that when children get sick, you can make them well by treating their parents?
https://retractionwatch.com/2019/04/08/article-claiming-acupuncture-on-parents-would-treat-their-kids-through-quantum-entanglement-has-been-retracted/?fbclid=IwAR3oHYePX-pyDNUNHArMEblL9BNeYs6xjCiIX1eqw4mGeW-JR9m-lQTvndg
LOL I’m speechless, totally gobsmacked. At least its been retracted. So acupuncture by proxy, voodoo, and the picture of Dorian Gray, they’re all quantum, man, totally quantum.
The question is how on earth could this paper have been accepted in the first place. It’s a disgrace.
@ F68.10:
Well, look at who published it.
Is there anything in acupuncture that does conform to scientific logic?
Yikes, I gotta stay away from that one.
I’m not sure whether acupuncturists have a “protocol” for integer or half-integer
spintwirling.That I would like to see! I’m still trying to work through the ethics of an experiment that could even remotely try to show that a parent and child are entangled.
There’s so much wrong with even the title that I’m aghast that anybody could publish it in the first place, let alone retract it later. Then again, there are academics collaborating with Deepak Chopra, so I’m really just left with my mouth hanging open and a tear in my eye. What do you even say….?
Oh, L-rd, I used to make a few bucks for ratshit pay doing a “legit” Sino-Nipponese freelance editing outfit. Some of the stuff was sloppy, and then there was the guy with new GR that even a copy editor could hit with specificity.
Gee, thanks. One more thing I have to hold my tongue about when I’m around my daughter.
I heard the International Association of Reiki Professionals is sending special energy waves your direction….
Good thing those energy waves don’t exist, otherwise they would fry your motherboard real good.
Is that like the Mormons converting people retroactively, after they’re dead?
I hear Skynet was involved in your upgrade, we all now can sleep easier knowing that…..
… Helios doesn’t sell pure homeopathic nostril.
I understand that Callie is sending healing thoughts telepathically.
Now all you have to do is stay out of the clutches of Servalan.
Latex clad dominatrix? Don’t tell MJD.
Or am I misremembering the latex? Could be Freudian.
I stunt recall Calley wearing Latex. Even Servalan didn’t wear Latex…much.
Every time I try to remember Servalan I see black reflective clothing in my minds eye. Maybe that’s the image she projected….
Servalan did love her blck PVC ensembles
I seem to recall that when we first see Callie, she is completely clad in red leather, or at least a leather-like substance.
I met Servalan many years ago. In a SoHo sex shop. ‘87 or thereabouts? Very strange day.
Believe it or not, I’m not that familiar with the series. I know, I know, I should be but..
If you look up ‘Servalan images’ , you can see many of the creations she wore – I see feathers, lots of feathers– as decoration as well as intriguing necklaces/ neck armature/ accents** in silver metal. The dresses are like evening wear seen in that era- a la Halston, perhaps- cowl necked or bare shouldered- in black, white or red.
I didn’t see any latex or similar gear.
She could probably get away with latex.
** the best part I think.
Yikes! Parts replacement! I thought it was more of a repair job? At any rate, glad to hear there wasn’t a complete breakdown.
Oh, wait, it IS a repair–I have to stop posting before I finish the double espresso.
Somehow, this thread reminds me of an old joke. Orac probably knows it, but here goes anyway:
Q: How many surgeons doe it take to change a light bulb?
A: Don’t bother changing it! We’ll just take out the entire light fixture–it might cause you trouble, and you can get by without it anyway.
It’s funny because it’s true!
Before the surgery I was a much longer alphabetic sequence.
Three doctors go duck hunting.
The psychiatrist looks up -“Birds engaging in seasonal avian behavior appropriate to ducks.”
The internist looks next – “Flight of ducks, rule out flight of swans, rule out flight of geese.”
The surgeon takes his shotgun, blows a bird out of the air. The dog brings it back and he hands it to the pathologist – “Okay, what is it?”
I look forward to a successful upgrade and a return to full Insolence!
I might be sending healing vibes across the Internet… and I might not… how would you ever know anyway?
@ Alain,
If you’re still the temporary moderator in Orac’s absence, could you please correct the title of this post? When written correctly it should read:
“A brief question: When will Orac return?” WTF has been happening to Orac? He’s usually a brilliant writer. I’m worried….
I’ve held off BUT
who are you to correct anyone’s writing?
-btw- Orac has already TOLD you what has been happening in general. Anyone with half a brain can figure out details.
Feel better soon!
In other news….
I just saw an image of a black hole. Somehow that seems apropos.
Anti-vaxxers ( see AoA, RFK jr/ Child Health Defense) are freaking out because NY Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered vaccines for unvaccinated children in 4 zip codes of Brooklyn where measles are reported such as Williamsburg which is heavily Orthodox Jewish AND hipster: it’s the Jewish kids who are most at risk ( although millennials may be under-vaccinated as well)
You may not know Williamsburg but I can assure you that you’ve seen it in various independent films, HBO shows, commercials and music videos: it is a hub of hip.
The black hole photographs are simply wondrous. Thanking every single scientist who contributed to making these immediate and alive. Stunning.
When I showed the picture to my 91-year old mother, she said, “I’m glad I lived to see this.”
Meanwhile, I understand the astrophysicists are trying to work out whether MJD’ brain can be seen crossing the event horizon (MJD. valiant distimmer of doshes, are you so starved for attention that you will put up with all the opprobrium we keep handing out?),
Old Rockin’ Dave writes,
…are you so starved for attention that you will put up with all the opprobrium we keep handing out?
MJD says,
Orac’s Respectful Insolence is a marvelous idea. Nowhere else on the internet can a “simple mind” comment on said insolence on each and every day. Thanks you from all of us, Orac!
MJD has a point, here. This blog is indeed a marvelous place.
Yeah, I’ve been debunking antivaxxers in other forums all day. They think they can win the debate by reposting the same tired arguments.
They are not winning the hearts and minds of anyone.
I think the AVers feel the mayors reaction is a little rash….
Fee fie foe fun,
I smell the scent of an English pun.
”Yeah, I’ve been debunking antivaxxers in other forums all day. They think they can win the debate by reposting the same tired arguments.”
”They are not winning the hearts and minds of anyone.”
How much did Merck pay you to post that?
LOL. I wish they’d pay me. I could get off the tenure track treadmill and spend my days commenting on the beach.
The anti-vax BS continues…
AoA: Kim accuses Dr Offit of being a racist, sexist, etc.: he wrote an article behind a paywall that includes a quoted sentence that describes people like her ( white, middle class, “educated”) who think that googling things makes them expert.
She then- with all of the subtlety of her art- writes up her own “quote” that is frankly racist, classist, etc. Does she want us to believe that Offit says similar things since we can’t see the entire article?
Then, of course, she brags about her ( and her family’s and Ginger Taylor’s) elite education. It’s #MeToo.
As we all know, having a degree is not inoculation against stupidity but anti-vaxxers ( and it is mostly women) have worked hard to demonstrate that fact. It bothers me- some of them should know better because they studied related subjects where at least some of the basic skills are required ( psych, social work, RN, education) rather than business, marketting or English.
Do you know which article?
She doesn’t link or “bother to give the URL” because PAYWALL!!.
Nice.
She better hope Dr. Offitt doesn’t decide to sue her for libel. Because she’s given the classic definition of it.
Let me get this straight.
Kim Rossi:
1) Has a haffy because Paul Offit made a comment about people like her “who think that googling things makes them experts”;
2) Proceeds to write a comment that spectacularly proves Offit’s point.
I would normally be amazed that anyone could be that lacking in self awareness, but hey, it’s AoA.
I can’t find anything remotely similar on the Inquirer website…
This?
@ Denice
If the quoted article has a doi or is indexed in Pubmed, there is some good chance the article could be downloaded regardless, from some buccaneer website. One such scientific centre has become quite infamous. Or so I was told by a friend.
Or an honest person could just, you know, pay for the article, for the education of her readers. Or, at least, like any moral quandary, leave them the choice by providing a link.
Anyway, Kim doesn’t seem much up-to-date on scientific fields and shenanigans.
Indeed. That’s why I was wondering about a title. If I can’t get it through my workplace (almost always can), I can get it elsewhere.
I doubt she wants people to see the original article in its entirety because then they could see how much liberty she’s taken with it.
— that’s common in woo: quote research or opponents’ positions but don’t allow your readers to see them for themselves. I hear this all the time: “research shows that…”
but the authors’ names,the location, date are left off. More room for lies.
In other news from the World O’Antivax Wackadoodle, Kent H. is taking on that dastardly vaccination pogrom in New York City, praising RFK Jr.;s attempt to stop it and revealing this startling statistic:
“Since 54% of all US children now have a lifetime chronic disease, that means that 1,080,000 New York children have asthma, ADHD, allergies, or autism, or any combination of all.”
Beyond the suggestion that Vaccines Done It, I have to wonder where he’s getting 54%*, even throwing in obesity as a “lifetime chronic disease”. Rational estimates for significant chronic disorders in kids seem more in the range of 8-10% of the population. Speaking of rationality, experts think increased incidence of chronic health conditions in kids reflect a variety of factors including greater survival of children with conditions that would’ve killed them previously (cancers, congenital birth defects, complications of premature birth etc.), less physical activity, poor/excessive food consumption, maternal drug use as well as (cue antivaxer groans) better awareness and diagnosis.
https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2014.0832
*probably from the same dumpster where antivaxers get their figure of “72 vaccines” supposedly given to children. Or maybe the giant dustbin where CDC conspirators threw their research records (as revealed by Dr. Thompson).
I’m stalled on the arithmetic, but I’m using 2017 numbers and have to be somewhere soon.
I think I first saw “54%” with chronic illness on the early websites of the Canary Party HOWEVER when I looked now, they are nowhere to be seen.
What would you expect from Blaxill et al anyway?
This time, AoA actually links to an article:
Rates of autism in NJ skyrocket ( northjersey.com): children born in 2010 are diagnosed 3 times as often as those born in 1992 ( 3% vs 1%).
One in 35 children and 1 in 23 boys. Dr Zahorodny of Rutgers explains why this probably has occurred
I’m sure that AoA will uncover the real reasons for the increase: VACCINES.
But no one is blaming the Sopranos, hipsters in Hoboken, insanely overpriced real estate, the growth of Whole Foods, cell towers, rap and athlesiure wear by women ALL of which have become more influential in that time period ( 1992-2010).
Meanwhile, in France, antivaxxers pathetically failed to make their case in front of France’s top administrative court, the Conseil d’Etat.
https://www.lemonde.fr/sante/article/2019/04/11/vaccins-obligatoires-les-arguments-de-deux-collectifs-balayes-a-l-audience-du-conseil-d-etat_5448631_1651302.html
11 compulsory vaccinations for toddlers? Science is OK with it and public health demands it, says the court. Aluminum adjuvants are no scientific problem either. Case closed. Gee!… that went fast!
What struck me was the pathetically weak case antivaxxers brought forward. As much as I despise France’s system of administrative justice, I can’t help but bring myself to think that antivaxxers could rather effortlessly do better than that. All they managed to do was to provide arguments so weak that the Conseil d’Etat in a sense didn’t even bother with them, and went full into paternalistic monologue mode (which isn’t something I approve of).
Completely stunned that French antivaxxers stick to the theme of Gherardi’s “myofascite à macrophages”. As if only French researchers were “competent” antivaxxers… It blew me.
I also stumbled onto French antivaxxers requesting that calcium phosphate be used in place of aluminum adjuvants. Is there any good reason to require aluminum specifically instead of calcium phosphate? Just curious.
Aluminum has been extensively studied. It improves the immune response. Apparently calcium phosphate is already used in the DTaP vaccine. Research on other new adjuvants is underway with potential new ones in Phase II and Phase III clinical trials.
Whatever adjuvant is used, it should be one that is proven safe and effective. We shouldn’t change to satisfy crackpots. From what I can figure out, aluminum replaced calcium phosphate in the 80’s. It may have been a cost factor or an efficacy factor. I can’t really find an answer as to why calcium phosphate was replaced in some vaccines. I think we need a vaccine expert to tell us.
I’d be willing to offer some choice to crackpots if calcium phosphate (or others) met sufficient (not necessarily optimal) standards. I wouldn’t mind more long-term epidemiological data with a diversity of adjuvants (though I do not expect much from that either).
My only concern, when it comes to changing stuff to satisfy crackpots, is mostly that they’d brand the change as a “victory” of antivaxxers and a “defeat” of provaxxers, even if provaxxers were merely trying to be kind/conciliatory towards them. That’s what happened with thimerosal as far as I can see.
But yes, input from a vaccine expert would be welcome.
I also see various stuff about chitosan as an adjuvant that I’m unable to interpret. If we can find satisfactory “natural” alternatives to aluminum, I wouldn’t see it as a bad thing to have a way to undermine antivaxxer’s obsession with aluminum. I know it’s playing whack-a-mole with them and that money and time would be better spent elsewhere, but still, I’d be willing to play.
We French could be quite insular and chauvinistic, sometimes. Heck, there are even French scientists who would insist that publishing their findings only in French journals is quite sufficient.
Whatever the country, antivaxer movements are also quite good at ignoring what’s happening in other countries, unless it feeds their arguments. The US antivaxers are no different than the French ones, in that respect.
It’s not just antivaxers. For someone from a country with a more-or-less functional health insurance system, watching arguments from US people against some universal healthcare system is mind-boggling. Or more generally, whatever they define as “socialist”. Or not.
I agree with you, Athaic. Specifically with your statement that some French scientists find it OK to publish only in French journals. While I know for a fact that this specific statement tends to be true in all scientific disciplines to various extent, this chauvinistic attitude seems to me to be specifically rife in French medicine and even more in French psychiatry/psychology. Nothing irritates me more than reading French papers in psychiatry/psychology. I feel murderous when doing so.
I hear that things are slowly changing, and I rejoice. The only public scientific figure in France that I heard taking a strong stance on this matter is Franck Ramus. He seems to me quite alone in tackling this.
http://www.scilogs.fr/ramus-meninges/recrutement-enseignants-chercheurs-psychologie/
I could be that dastardly Buddy, the Cake Boss!!!!!!
You know, Rann, although we jest, there are probably ways we could argue our theories based on research:
— Sopranos fans / Cake Boss fans are inspired to relish Italian cuisine/ cake and gain weight- heavier mothers have more kids with ASDs
— hipsters wait until they’re 40 to have children ( if they do at all)- older parents have more kids with ASDs
— expensive real estate, cell towers, Whole Foods and athlesiure designate urban life, therefore more ASD
( BUT rap is universal)
HOWEVER today ( AoA) Ann Dachel discusses Dr Z’s “idiotic” ideas about causation
Oh the irony.
While omitting certain inconvenient text from her wall o’quote, such as “New Jersey is known for excellent clinical and educational services for autism spectrum disorder, so the state’s higher rates are likely due to more accurate or complete reporting based on education and health care records, the researchers said.”
Indeed, removing thimerosal from multi-dose vials was done to appease the pro-disease crowd. Because there wasn’t a scientific or safety reason to do that some vaccine experts still consider that an excellent antimicrobial was sacrificed for no good reason.
As regards your other topics:
Despite the lack of a control group French investigators convinced themselves that MMF was a disease (spoiler alert: it isn’t). A good source is this WHO Q/A, and keep in mind that it helps to read all the Q/A’s as some were written prior to more information becoming available:
https://www.who.int/vaccine_safety/committee/topics/aluminium/questions/en/
There are many groups working on novel adjuvants including calcium phosphate. Alum salts have a historical advantage: 70 years of safety data in large populations (https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/adjuvants.html) which is acknowledged by CDC, WHO, and other regulators. Also, in addition to unknown clinical risks that may be incurred using novel adjuvants, simply adding a new adjuvant to an existing manufacturing process might negatively impact an otherwise safe and effective licensed vaccine. That is a disincentive to replace alum salts in existing vaccines; thus the major manufacturers typically consider novel adjuvants for use in new vaccines (e.g. Shingrix).
I acknowledge that it’s very likely a disincentive. But I do not see why (provided some decent safety and efficacy standards are met) we should insist that people not have a choice if they are concerned about this issue. It’s an opportunity to gather data as to whether this kind of choice increases vaccine uptake (not holding my breath), and data to eventually detect discrepancies in epidemiological outcomes (not holding my breath either).
But what I’d really like to know is whether or not such appeasement policies (such as what happened with thimerosal) could improve the public’s perception of medicine taking patient’s concerns at heart. As far as I can see, in the case of thimerosal, it had literally no positive effect. That seems to show that no good solution has been found yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying. Maybe there’s room for improvement.
To be clear (and repetitive) many groups are attempting to improve all aspects of vaccines including adjuvants. The issue is: are the adjuvants both necessary AND better than alum, not whether consumers can “choose” a different (but similar) adjuvant.
Be my guest to provide multiple choices. Start your own biotech. Vaccines are not like most other consumer products because small changes in production can render your current products ineffective and at great cost. There is a reason that only four major manufacturer’s exist and that no high income countries count on their government to manufacture vaccines at a scale to match their populations.
I think there is plenty of current evidence (cough, cough, measles outbreak, cough cough cervical cancer rates increasing in Japan) that even if vaccines were perfect a portion of the population will oppose them, so how can more choice for the sake of having more choice be expected to affect that?
Starting my own biotech? Nah… much too busy thinking about killing myself. I have different priorities.
“There is a reason that only four major manufacturer’s exist and that no high income countries count on their government to manufacture vaccines at a scale to match their populations.”
Would love to learn more about this reason / this topic. References welcome. It would be vastly more interesting than distractions like MMF.
I avoid Big Pharma making blood money off my vaccinations. I just go over to CVS and have the pharmacist mix it up right there in the sink.
“Would love to learn more about this reason / this topic.”
It’s pretty simple: making vaccines at the necessary scale is expensive and difficult to perpetuate because vaccines are biologics, unlike drugs, and the inherent variability of the many steps makes development and maintaining production an unattractive business. Unlike making widgets such as phones, colas, or cars there isn’t a generic market for vaccines. Stringent regulation and the risk inherent to making biologics are anathema to business types. If making them was easy and predictable enough for consumerism then Wal-Mart, Amazon and others would be making and selling vaccines. In our lifetime that is highly unlikely to be the case.
Not only is it possible to risk billions and fail in development or shortly after (e.g. Herpes vaccines and MenHibrix), even necessary changes to the process can lead to lengthy shortages or worse for licensed vaccines (https://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/Shortages/ucm351921.htm). Have a coffee with someone in vaccine manufacturing and mention that you want to reformulate a licensed product in an attempt to appease the pro-disease gang. You can measure the adrenaline rush/ panic that will follow in nanoseconds.
I’m glad MMF bores you; it should because it’s a nothingburger (at least outside of French borders). Alas, similar to “too many too early” and “Toxins!” among others, it will live on as a hall-of-fame anti-vaccine trope that is regularly memorialized…
@ORD: Does it smell like turpentine and look like Indian ink?
I have an actual thimerosal allergy. Ironically, when I have asked about thimerosal in a vaccine that I am about to get, I am mistaken for an antivaxxer.
These kind of quid pro quo are ironic up to a point, where they start becoming rather dramatic. When the medical system starts confusing you for someone you are not, things can go really really far and endanger your life. Never let a third party play mind reading games with you. Family members and medical doctors are some of the most nefarious mind readers, as they can severely affect your life.
Being mistaken for an antivaxxer might be fun. Being mistaken for a drug addict starts being much less fun. Being mistaken for a scientologist and a terrorist is definitely not fun.
I suppose it is more of less the same for people who are really allergic to gluten, as opposed to those, who just consider gluten as not good, because it is the latest diet fashion.
umm,
https://news.yahoo.com/crude-oil-touted-health-cure-azerbaijan-034915549.html
ohh, and olive oil/epson salt pain relief:
https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/b6zozx/
But, yea; new parts need proper break-in lubrication!!
“I also see various stuff about chitosan as an adjuvant that I’m unable to interpret. If we can find satisfactory “natural” alternatives to aluminum, I wouldn’t see it as a bad thing to have a way to undermine antivaxxer’s obsession with aluminum.”
Hah, chitosan is a Toxin!!!
“Embryo exposure to chitosan nanoparticles and ZnO nanoparticles resulted in a decreased hatching rate and increased mortality, which was concentration-dependent. Chitosan nanoparticles at a size of 200 nm caused malformations, including a bent spine, pericardial edema, and an opaque yolk in zebrafish embryos. Furthermore, embryos exposed to chitosan nanoparticles showed an increased rate of cell death, high expression of reactive oxygen species, as well as overexpression of heat shock protein 70, indicating that chitosan nanoparticles can cause physiological stress in zebrafish. The results also suggest that the toxicity of biodegradable nanocarriers such as chitosan nanoparticles must be addressed, especially considering the in vivo distribution of these nanoscaled particles.”
http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3260029/
Big Pharma will stop at nothing to turn our children into deformed, stressed zebrafish.
Sorry to hear of your temporary malfunction. May your Tarial cells rebuild completely.
BuzzFeed posted an item on this latest edition of the Frum Follies last Wednesday. Meet PEACH.
To arms, fellow skeptics!
Dr. Oz has co-written an op-ed appearing in today’s Wall St. Journal which protests “Facebook’s Scandal of Fake Celebrity Ads”.
Oz is upset about “shady advertisers” who traffic in fake health cures and cosmetic fixes using the names of celebrities who aren’t affiliated with the products. Oz himself has reportedly been victimized by ads for “Dr. Oz’s Diabetes Breakthrough” which promises “to cure diabetes and regulate blood sugar in two weeks”.
It’s terrible when scammers use Dr. Oz’s impeccable reputation for promoting evidence-based medicine in order to sell fake Oz-Woo.
Do not delay, contact Facebook and your representatives in Congress to remedy this injustice as soon as possible!