Australasian Journal of Clinical Environmental Medicine - Complete Bullsh*t ??

- My two second review: Wi-Fi may in fact be bad for your health, but this study is so bad it appears to me to be a hoax.

A few weeks ago the news was abuzz with a story that linked wi-fi radiation with autism. At first I couldn't find the journal that the study was published in, but then a helpful reader pointed me to a PDF version. Originally I had intended to read the study "Wireless Radiation in the Etiology and Treatment of Autism: Clinical Observations and Mechanisms" and provide a layman's analysis of the study's methods and findings.

After reading it, I have to agree with the anonymous commenter to my original post. This study is such a huge steaming pile of pseudoscience. To save you from having to read the 5 pages of overview and pseudoscience blended with garbled scientific mumbo-jumbo, I will provide you with my brief notes:

This study looked at clearing of heavy metals from subjects. Study claims that exposure to heavy metals have been implicated as a cause of autism. Primary subject is diagnosed as autistic, and for the last 7 years has had "...a long history of difficulty in clearing metals...." (Whatever that means. Did they feed him heavy metals and see if he excreted them? How did they know his exposure level? And SEVEN YEARS of exposure?)

The idea was to measure heavy metals excreted in hair, feces and urine and determine if excretion increased in an electromagnetic frequency (EMF) free area. The hypothesis is that EMF causes heavy metals to be trapped in cells, thus leading to toxicity which presents itself symptomatically as autism (??? Nice theory, but why? Oh yes...the Thiomersal debate)

So the researches try to construct an EMF free zone by removing all wireless devices from "the building", requiring cell phones to be turned off (! What about the cell tower's radiation?...oh just wait....), installing EMR filters on electrical circuits and appliances, and (my personal favorite) the application of "...body worn sympathetic resonance technology, energy resonance technology and molecular resonance effect technology" WTF? is THAT?!? I had no idea what that was, so I looked it up.

It would appear that the "sympathetic resonance technology" they refer to is the Qlink, as they use that same phrase in marketing material. What is Qlink you ask? It's a fancy 'high-tech' version of a new-age 'crystal'. It appears at first glance to be, oh, complete and utter pseudoscience. It not only protects you from the dangers of electromagnetic fields, but it will also improve your golf game (I wish I were kidding, because that's freaking funny...My favorite quote from the golf video "No one ever thinks, hey you know what, this might be in my head"...uh ...yeah.)

The "molecular resonance effect technology" appears to be some sort of 'energized water' and something of the sort is patented! Energy resonance technology appears to be....ugh..some other crap I don't have time to wade through.

The bottom line, this study looks to me to be complete BS. It seems to prove nothing, other than the fact that the media will run with a story that they think will sell, regardless of its veracity.

It's a good reminder, that when you read that "A study has linked...blah blah blah" Unless you actually read the study, you never know what kind of morons might have 'conducted' it.

Here's more on this ridiculousness, and if you want to waste your life reading the study, have at it(PDF)

I Hear Whispers of The Polling Crisis

A story in the Associated Press today says that 2007 is likely to be the first year where Americans spent more money on cell phone bills than land line phones. A quote from the article:

"What we're finding is there's a huge move of people giving up their land line service altogether and using cell phones exclusively," said Allyn Hall, consumer research director for market research firm In-Stat.

Yup. I'm one of those people. I know many others. And no one with just a cell phone is being polled. As I mentioned earlier in December, telephone polling, which is pretty much the basis of all the polls you hear or read about, is seriously broken. How will it be fixed? Without a change in federal law allowing pollsters to call cell phones, it's uncertain. What is certain, there will be a shock in 2008 when the mainstream media realizes their polling tools are worthless. To be sure, the biggest gainer in this debacle will be Ron Paul. Whether or not the error is significant enough to win the presidency, I'm not willing to say. But I will say that it will be big enough to make the pollsters worry about their job security.

I can't wait until those "same 10 Ron Paul spammers (i.e. supporters)" spam the voting booths.

Electronic Voting Machines Suck

So says the Ohio Secretary of State according to the New York Times. But then again, who didn't already know that? These machines make 'hacking' an election so easy that changing a 1 to a zero in an Excel spreadsheet is all that is needed. Not that corruption of elections is anything new, but the rush by states to use electronic voting machines left out critical security concerns. Paper receipts would be a start, but so much more needs to be done.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

I'm Sorry, What Was That?

tlhIngan maH!

I just read a news article about Joe Vento, the Philadelphia steak shop owner who's in all sorts of trouble for posting a small sign outside his cheese steak restaurant in Philadelphia that read

This is America, when ordering speak English

The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations is claiming that Vento is discriminating against people who cannot speak English. I did notice that the website for Philadelphia is also only in English, even though they offer short messages to speakers of Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian, Cambodian, etc.

Stunningly, there's no Klingon version. Wow. Even Google offers a Klingon version of their search engine. Does this not smack of Klingon anti-love? The tiny, poorly funded Klingon Language Institute even outdoes Philadelphia's web site in offering a (much larger) message to speakers of THIRTY languages, compared to Philadelphia's paltry seven.

As I sit here, late at night thinking about this, I think Mr. Vento should hire a Klingon speaking lawyer to represent him, then have that lawyer speak for him at the Commission's hearings, demanding of course, that a translator be present. All briefs should be filed in Klingon as well.

I would love the see the commission's reaction Mr Vento's lawyer responded to their questions with a beautiful sounding "nuqjatlh? jIyajbe'!"

(By The way - A shout out to the Klingon homies over at bo logh. Very nice)

My Matrix Theory - Circa 1999

Neo is the "one" alright...just not the "one" you think.

"Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem."

- Numbers 18:15

*Written Circa April 1999, this version is mostly unchanged from a version I posted on the Warner Brothers website during the first week of the movie's release. Unfortunately, the original post is gone as the website is no longer there. However, most of my original post was captured on USENET (and thus preserved) by a Polish reader in July 1999. I will clean up/edit this as time permits.

I saw the Matrix a few nights ago...and was amazed. It was a great film, but what I've since found even more amazing is that my view of the symbolism in the film is in the minority (even though to me...it seemed obvious). In fact, I've only found a couple of people on the internet who've posted anything about the perspective I took. So...for your dissection, here is my theory (and don't let me step on your toes if you think this is a Christian film, I mean if a film means that much to your faith, maybe you should recheck your faith):

Neo is the Anti-Christ. Everyone seems to have picked up on the religious symbolism in the film, but it's my opinion that everyone's got it backwards. I think it's easy for people to assume that Neo is a "Christ" figure since he is battling an obvious evil (the machines). The machines are clearly acting in the role of God, as they are creating, nurturing and completely controlling humans in every conceivable way. They control humans to the point that "they" (or more appropriately, "it") has completely and totally created their universe and can completely control everything that happens within it. Sounds a lot like God, doesn't it?

But who is to question the methods of God? Isn't the saying that God moves in mysterious ways? And what if God really was a machine that was sucking out the energy from us? Would that necessarily contradict what we know of God? The amazing trick of this movie is that it stacks the cards against the audience by not portraying God as the 'old man with a beard' most secretly imagine "he" is.....and instead portrays God as something a little less cuddly. At the same time, it presents the story through the eyes and viewpoint of the Anti-Christ

Symbolism

The first event symbolic of the "evil" of Morpheus (and thus, Neo later on) is his offering of the two pills to Neo. He presents Neo with a red and a blue pill. The blue pill represents ignorance. The red pill is the forbidden knowledge (of the matrix). He tells Neo that if he chooses the blue pill, he goes back to his regular life....with nothing changed. Choose the red pill and you will know the truth about the Matrix but there is no going back. To me, this is clearly symbolic of Satan offering humans the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. Playing the role of Satan is Morpheus. And while the Bible does not specify the type of fruit in the Garden of Eden, the most common interpretation is that it's an apple. Most people think of apples as being red, thus the red pill is symbolic of the apple.....and Neo chooses it.

When Neo awakes on the ship, take note of the following dialog:

Neo: Why do my eyes hurt? Morpheus: You've never used them before

A simple line you may have missed, but one that links directly the biblical story of the fall of Adam and Eve. Once Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, the Bible notes that "the eyes of them both were opened" as if for the first time, to realize they were naked. As was Neo.

The next symbolic event is when Morpheus shows Neo the "real" world. It is a burned out shell with blackened skies. Clearly the presentation of the "real" world is hellish. No one would choose to leave the relative sanctuary of the Matrix, even if it's a lie, and live in this "real" world. But that's exactly what Morpheus wants to do....he wants to destroy the Matrix (world) and give them this nightmarish world in exchange. Morpheus states that "no one really knows when the world was changed like this (so it could conceivably be since the beginning of time...and not, say, 30 years ago). He does state that it was "us" that scorched the sky. Could humans have made it that way due to their eviction from the Garden of Eden? Morpheus wants to destroy the Matrix (world) but he cannot do it himself. Like a Christian prophet, he too is waiting for "the chosen one" who will foment the apocalypse. He believes that Neo is the "chosen one"....not Christ, but the Anti-Christ who will battle God (the machine) in hopes of destroying it.

It's important to note that Morpheus is not Satan, but a later follower of him. Morpheus mentions the Satan character later on when he notes:

When the Matrix was first built there was a man born inside that had the ability to change what he wanted, to remake the Matrix as he saw fit....When he died, the Oracle at the temple of Zion prophesied his return and envisioned an end to the war and freedom for our people. That is why there are those of us that have spent our entire lives searching the Matrix, looking for him.

And since Morpheus has been looking for Neo, he must therefore be the second coming of this original "man", i.e. the Anti-Christ figure.

The ship's name, Nebuchadnezzar is symbolic of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon who besieged Jerusalem , destroyed all of its temples and enslaved the Jews - God's chosen people.

On the ship Neo is told by Tank that he and Dozer were born the old fashioned way in Zion. When Neo asks where Zion is, he is told that it's deep within the Earth near its core, where it's still warm. To most people, a "warm" place at the center of the Earth is symbolic of Hell.

But probably the most obvious symbolic confirmation of my theory is when Agent Smith tells Morpheus that the there was an earlier version of the Matrix (this is during Morpheus' capture and subsequent beating). He tells Morpheus that the first Matrix was perfect, but that humans couldn't accept that it was perfect and were always looking for flaws. They (the machine/God) had to redesign the Matrix to include suffering because humans measured their existence by suffering. To me, this is clearly an allusion to the Garden of Eden (the perfect Matrix) and thus the Machine's position as God.

Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was re-designed to this: the peak of your civilization.

In that one section of dialog, it is confirmed that the Machine is God (thus Neo is Anti.) and also explains why God allows suffering to exist in the world following the failure of Eden. Doesn't the reference to 'crops failing' seem oddly out of place?? In such a high-tech setting, Agent smith makes reference to something more akin to an ancient agrarian world. Of course it makes sense if you consider God's curse on Adam during the fall of man "cursed is the ground for thy sake".

Some Other Things To Consider

How would Neo appear to someone in the Matrix? He has supernatural powers and kills others with abandon (especially cops). Would he appear to be "good" person or an "evil" person? A Christ figure or a Satanic figure?

It's interesting that the machine's people are referred to as "agents", since it sounds so similar to "angels", which according to my theory, they are.

When Trinity sees Neo dodge bullets, she tells him that she's never seen anyone move like he does...and that he moves like the Agents.

Trinity: How did you do that?
Neo: Do what?
Trinity: You move like they do . I've never seen anyone move that fast.

Of course Neo can move like they do. He is a 'fallen' agent (angel) and that's why he is more like them and less like the others.

Come on, doesn't Morpheus just *look* evil in his trench coat and sunglasses??

When Tank tells Neo about where Zion is, isn't it interesting that he uses the expletive "God Damn!" for no apparent reason. There are multiple examples of this throughout the movie.
Trinity Says to Neo as he prepares to enter the Matrix to save Morpheus:

No? Let me tell you what I believe. I believe that Morpheus means more to me than he does to you. I believe if you are really serious about rescuing him, you are going to need my help. And since I am the ranking officer on this ship, if you don't like it... I believe you can go to hell. Because you're not going anywhere else. Tank, load us up.

What do you think? I'll have to see the movie some more to see if I can come up with anything else to support my theory. Ecce signum.

Over The Counter Zyrtec Will Finally Be Available To Americans

Finally, 18 years after Canada made the very popular antihistamine Zyrtec over the counter, the FDA has decided Americans are 'adult enough' to buy it without a doctor. Gone are the days when you'd have to smuggle $0.20 Zyrtec from Canada to avoid paying $2.00 for a tablet here in the US.

Of course, the FDA recommended this change the first time back in 2001, but their back room deals with the drug companies kept that from happening.

Sadly, the more you learn about the FDA's prescription regime, the more you realize it's mostly about profit protection for corporations and very little about public safety.

Peon Pulpit Presents: Tips To Save The Environment

I keep seeing all these adds on TV where some famous movie star is telling me how I can save the Earth by brewing my coffee with a gold filter (never mind that it might cause you to have a heart attack...the coffee does taste better), or some such thing. This has inspired me. I've decided it's time for the Peon Pulpit to get in the game. So without further ado, here's the first round of the Peon Pulpit's "Save the Earth!" tips:

Environmental Tip #1

Stop buying DVDs.

Seriously. In 2005, an estimated 1.2 billion DVDs were sold. Now, that's a lot of plastic isn't it? The average DVD by itself weighs 16 grams. So if my math is right, that's:

1,200,000,000 (X) 16 = 19,200,000,000 grams = 42,328,754.3 lbs of plastic.

And that's not even including the packaging material. The case weighs about 65 grams. So again with the math:

1,200,000,000 (X) 65 = 78,000,000,000 grams = 171,960,565 lbs of plastic.

So all in all, DVD sales in 2005 resulted in the use of 214,289,319 pounds of non-biodegradable plastic. Wow, that is a lot of plastic. That of course says nothing about the cost of the printing materials, the number of trees cut to print the paper inserts, fuel to transport them to stores, etc. How much oil is used in that process? How many pollutants are released in the manfacture of a DVD copy of "A River Runs Through It"? What contribution does all that plastic manufacture have on global warming??

Suffice to say, you need to stop buying DVDs. And to think Jennifer Gardner is all worried about bio-degradable paper coffee filters...

Prediction: 2008 Will Be The Year Of The Pollster Crisis

Finally, a prediction of my own. It is simply this: In the next year, pollsters will realize that telephone polls are no longer predictive of reality. What evidence do I base my prediction on? Well, other than my 'gut instinct', I'm basing my prediction on the few items I briefly outlined in this post. Mainly that:

• Telephone polls rely solely on traditional 'wired' telephones. They do not call cellphones or VOIP phones (for various reason, some of which are legal restrictions). Nearly 20% of all Europeans have just a cellphone, and I think the US is not far behind that figure.
• Caller ID is in such widespread use that more than 50% had it in 2004. Today, I'm sure that a much larger percentage has Caller ID, and nearly all cellphone only households have it.

Both of these facts indicate that a large number of people are not being called at all (cellphone-only users) and those people are likely to be younger (as most early adopters of technology are). Another large segment of people are not answering calls from a telephone number they don't recognize, primarily younger people who understand how to use Caller ID to avoid solicitation calls. Which of course begs the question, who does answer the telephone when they see an unknown number or "Number Not Available" on their Caller ID?

These two effects will combine to grossly underestimate the number of young people (15-35) who are being polled.

In the past, the effect of excluding that group might have been muted by the fact that their opinions were largely represented by the public at large. However, the more age-specific the poll issue is, the larger the possibility for a huge error. I think 2008 election is the perfect set up for a 'young vs. old' polling issue to finally bring this error to everyone's attention. We'll see.

FDA realizes Sudafed Replacement Is Snake Oil

The FDA is finally realizing that the drug that is being used to replace pseudoephedrine (Sudafed's active ingredient) in over-the-counter versions is no better than snake oil. After anti-meth laws swept through the US forcing pseudoephedrine products to be moved behind the pharmacy counter, drug companies began offering formulas using phenylephrine as a replacement.

The only problem is, it just doesn't work. Of course, you already knew that back in March.

You can read the FDA's new study here (large PDF)

What Do You Know - Another Anti-Depressant Crazed Mass Murderer

It should be no surprise that the 19 year old mass-murderer Robert Hawkins who killed 8 people as well as himself was taking anti-depressants. Is anyone else seeing a pattern here or is it just me??

Police Taser Deaf Man In His Own Bathroom (For Not Listening)

Can't make that sort of thing up. The Wichita police Tasered a deaf man in his own bathroom (wearing only a towel) for not listening to them (seriously....that was the only reason!)

I guess in the past he would have been shot? Uh-huh.....

Why Valet Parking Is A Really, Really Bad Idea...

As I mentioned in a previous post, valet parking should be avoided at all costs. Unless, that is, you think the convenience is worth handing over one of your most expensive possessions to a high school drop-out-stalker-serial-killer who's name you won't even bother to get.

Of course it's not just the car that's being handed over, but some fools also hand over their house keys (for an hour or more). And almost everyone hands over their registration/insurance information (in the car, of course) which usually contains the owner's home address. If you're lucky, maybe the valet will just do a little joyriding with your car or use it as a taxi. Of course, he might be a really good person, but you'll be leaving that up to chance, won't you?

Now, if you've ever read the back of your valet ticket, you know that if pretty much anything happens to your car, it's not their fault. Here's a few choice lines from a real valet ticket:

"Cars driven by our employees solely at owner's risk. Not responsible for fire or theft."

That pretty much sums up the relationship you have with these people. You pay us to park your car, and YOU, not us, are responsible for anything that goes wrong. Which is (dis) comforting, because while you might take time to park your car in a good, well-lit area or avoid slamming the car into a curb/poll/ and/or parking in someone's private driveway where it might get towed, the valet is more worried about quickly parking your car and getting back to park/pick-up another car to get paid. And as far as theft goes, many valets keep the keys in the parked car or in an unwatched key box. They're not too worried about it of course, because, after all, it's your problem. So if your valet forgets to set the parking brake and your car rolls out into the street, or they accidentally rip up one of your $1000 rims and a $400 tire on a curb, well, that's your "risk" coming back to haunt you.

And it's usually right after something like that happens that you are forced to read your auto insurance policy only to find out that your auto insurance company won't cover damage caused by a valet. "What? my insurance company won't cover my $40,000 BMW just because I let a high school drop-out-stalker-serial-killer guy who had his driver's license revoked for 3 DUIs (and, of course, I don't know his name) drive my car into a wall? Unbelievable!"

So now you're stuck dealing with the super reputable valet "company", who thoughtfully and fortuitously put that liability waver on the back of your claim ticket. More likely than not, the valet company will refuse to pay, either claiming that the damage was there before you arrived (How will you prove it wasn't?), or by claiming that you didn't identify the damage before leaving (if you find after you leave the lot, you're definitely on your own). Seems like a whole lot of risk for a very little 'convenience', doesn't it??

Oh, and if your car has nice rims, always check to see that your spare tire hasn't disappeared while you were eating dinner (Particularly if it's a rental car). It's valuable and easy to steal because people don't even think about it until they have a flat (months or years later). Who would bother to check that??? Well the rental car company will when you return the car...and guess who will get to pay for that?

Yup - you will.

Security Tips For Peons

While I have no formal credentials as a security professional, I would like to offer some security tips that I have learned/collected over the years. Some of these come from reading the local police news blotter, others come from direct experience with crime. So, while going about your life, keep these tips in mind:

In the Home

1. Always keep your exterior doors and windows locked (fairly obvious, you’d think).
2. Learn about lock bumping and why (sadly) it means that most exterior door locks (including deadbolts) are not much better than your flimsy bathroom lock which can be opened with a dime. Then have a locksmith install an bump-proof lock.
   
3. Install a peephole in your exterior door if it doesn’t already have one.
4. Never open your door for someone you are not expecting or do not know. I cannot tell you the sheer number of home invasions that occur because the criminals rang the doorbell and the victims opened the door. Occasionally they will kick in the door or climb in through a broken window, but more often than not, they just knock or ring the doorbell. If it’s a delivery person and you’re not expecting a delivery, don’t open the door. Uniformed person you were not expecting needing to “check” something? A nice old man selling chocolates to buy puppies for the orphaned children of Yugoslavia? Again, DON’T OPEN THE FREAKING DOOR! Read this horrific story if you need more justification as to why opening the door to strangers is a bad idea. But the examples of this problem are everywhere.
   
5. If you have children, never, EVER let them answer the door. Of all the people in your house that should have the responsibility of being the gatekeeper of your home, a child is the least capable to take on that level of responsibility. The additional risk of abduction just adds to the multitude of reasons why children should be taught only adults can open the door if the doorbell rings.
6. Install a security system. A security system can bring you piece of mind when you’re not at home. It can even bring you a discount on your insurance. But most importantly, it can tell you what the %$@#$$ is going on downstairs at 3:18 am when you’re sound asleep in your 2nd or 3rd floor bedroom. Alarm systems don’t have to be expensive or continuously monitored. This wireless system actually works well despite it’s cheesy website (and can even call you for alerts when you’re not at home).
7. Install a keyed lock on your bedroom door and lock it when you sleep. This is critical if you absolutely cannot afford an alarm system. Kwikset makes a very easy to install keyed entry door lock. The point is not to keep someone out indefinitely. It's just to give you enough time to wake up, realize what's going on and 'activate' your plan. Speaking from experience, you never want to wake up with a stranger in your room. If you do, you’re going to wish you had installed that lock. Trust me.
8. Have a plan. This is another no-brainer. Have a phone in your room, and know that after you call 911, you will be waiting the longest 5 minutes (if you're lucky) of your life for the police to arrive. What will you do during that eternal 5 minutes? While we're on the topic of planning, have you ever thought about what you would do in a house fire?
   

In Your Car

1. When you come to a stoplight, never pull up so close to the car in front of you that you cannot drive off to the right or left. This is particularly important if it's late or if the road is mostly empty. Always allow yourself room to drive off should a driver get out of their car for any reason. A broken down car or a carjacking - you'll always be thankful for the room.
2. As in the home, keep your doors locked.
3. Carry Mace in your car (if it's legal where you live). It's always good to have if you find yourself suddenly stranded on the side of the road.
   
4. Carry a cell phone. If you can't afford a regular cell phone, pick up a 'disposable' phone and buy phone cards. For most of the US, I have found that Virgin Mobile has the best overall deal. Get a phone for around $20, and add at least $20 every 90 days, or add $90 dollars in any 72 hour period and those minutes won't expire for 1 year. So for $110 you can have an emergency phone in your car for a year. Don't forget to keep it charged.
5. Avoid valet parking like you would avoid a hemorrhaging Ebola victim. This one has me so fired up, I've given it its own post.
   

Outside

1. Always keep aware of your surroundings. Never jog with headphones...sorry, I know it's why you bought the iPod. But jogging with headphones shows a predator that you're not paying attention.
2. Carry a small can of Mace or pepper spray (if it's legal where you live...and it's not everywhere).
   
3. Be wary of talkative strangers. More often than not, these 'sudden friends' want to sell you something. Either way, you really don't want to be bothered with their sales pitch while you go about your life. Otherwise, you would have called them, right?
   
4. See #4 above, - Carry a cellphone.
   
5. Most importantly, trust your gut instinct. If you feel a situation is getting dicey, NEVER second guess it. Get yourself out of the situation as fast as possible, and prepare for the worst. If everything goes well, people might think you're a bit paranoid. If something goes wrong, you'll be as ready as you can be. I can live with that, and you can too.

In General

1. Get a P.O. Box, and have all your mail sent there. At a minimum, it adds a layer between you and all the people you must correspond with. It's also much more secure than an apartment/house mailbox. Also, many states will allow you to put a P.O. Box on your driver's license as long as your physical address is on file.
2. Use credit cards (like you would a debit, with no balance carried from month to month) instead of debit cards. As I've written about before, debit cards are like the keys to your bank account. Lose control of your debit card and life will suck for you. And while the bank may limit your liability, they're not really good at limiting the serious discomfort you will feel when you find your account has been emptied. Read here for more details.
   

Australasian Journal of Clinical Environmental Medicine ?

Wherefore art thou?

I was planning on doing some research on this Wi-Fi/Autism link to see if I could actually read the study to see how they came to their result. Guess what? I can't find this journal mentioned anywhere. A check of Google left me with little. One site suggested that this site, http://www.acnem.org/ was the publisher of the journal. But I still can't find anything. If you can find time to do a press release, you've had time to put up a website. Until I'm able to find out more on this, I'll assume this is little more than urban legend.

**Update: Thanks to an anonymous reader, a link to the study has been found:
http://www.internalbalance.com/emr-autism-acnem.pdf

***Read the follow-up to this post here

Wi-Fi linked to Autism?

This disturbing study reminds me of a post I did last year about the potential dangers of wireless networking. The study links the increase in the use of wi-fi and cell phones to the increase in autism. Who knows if the science behind the study will hold up.

***Read the follow-up to this post here

A few Lucky Virginians Have Another Nasty Surprise In Store -- Compliments Of The Legislature

After the public outcry over the last 4 months related to the "Abusive Driver's fees" it's fascinating that another provision in the very same transportation funding bill (House Bill 3202) has not come under more public scrutiny.

Starting January 1, 2008, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) and the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority (HRTA) will begin taxing all sorts of activities in the Northern Virginia and the Hampton Roads areas. These taxes will be imposed on residents in the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park, Norfolk, Newport News, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Hampton, Williamsburg and Poquoson and the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Isle of Wight, York and James City.

Here are the new taxes and fees (.doc), all of which are in addition to any existing tax on these activities:

• 2% tax on all motor vehicle rentals
• 5% tax on all automotive repairs, including things like oil changes
• $10 fee for your annual vehicle registration
• 1% (of the purchase price) additional fee for your initial vehicle registration
• $10 additional fee for motor vehicle inspection
• 2% additional hotel tax
• A $0.40/$100 of valuation sales tax on all real property sales (this is an tax increase of 500% from the current tax of $1/$1000 of value. No doubt this will help the ailing housing market)

The money will go into a State Treasurer fund (Special Sales and Use Tax Motor Vehicle Repair Fund) and will be doled out to the NVTA or HRTA as 'appropriate'. What does appropriate mean exactly? Well neither Authority is required to follow Virginia procurement guidelines and is free to issue “no-bid” contracts to whomever they wish. I'm sure it will be frequently 'appropriate'.

The Authorities were also given the ability to issue bonds and to obligate your future taxes to the payments on those bonds. And all of this power, in a pseudo public body that is run by appointees. That’s right, the NVTA and the HRTA members are not elected by the public, so you are being taxed without representation.

The only ray of hope in this is that Loudoun County and attorney Robert G. Marshall were just granted a joint appeal by the Virginia Supreme Court in their cases against the NVTA. Hopefully, the VASC will put a halt to this bureaucracy run amok.

The TASER Has Become Just Another Way To Kill People

When the Taser was introduced a few years ago, it was touted as being an alternative to lethal force. Police departments all over the world were sold on the idea that many of the situations where they would normally draw firearms could now be defused with a device that would only incapacitate an aggressive subject. However, in the last few years, it is undeniable that in situations where police officers would never have drawn a firearm they are drawing and using their Tasers.

Take for example the situation with the "Don't taze me bro!" guy. Police would never have felt justified in drawing a handgun on a subject who had no weapon, and was only resisting arrest. Yet they felt free to whip out the Taser and blast away. Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski was electroshocked in the Vancouver airport because he had become unruly (after not being cleared by customs for 8 hours!). He clearly had no knife or firearm as he had been cleared past security checkpoints. Would police 20 years ago have drawn their handguns against this man? Never. Yet they Tased him twice and as a result, he was killed. In Canada alone, at least 17 people have died as a result of being electroshocked by Tasers since 2003. Of course not to be outdone by our northern neighbors, the United States has seen more than 270 Taser related deaths since 2001.

Supporters of the Taser argue that it has saved lives, as subjects are shocked rather than shot. However, a study in Houston Texas showed that the number of people shot did not decrease after Tasers were issued to police. Yet Tasers were used more than 1,000 times. And in 95% of those incidents, the Tasers were "...not used to defuse situations in which suspects wielded weapons and deadly force clearly would have been justified".

The truth is that police are using Tasers in situations where they would have previously used strong-arm tactics to control a subject. Wrestling someone to the ground and cuffing them used to be the way this was handled, now it's become a push button affair with a growing body count. What was sold to the public as an alternative to lethal force has quickly become the primary and routine method of gaining an unwilling subject's cooperation. And for that convenience, local governments and police are apparently more than willing to offer up a few dead citizens.

**Update: Frederick, MD Sheriff's dept killed a man today with a Taser (11/18/2007)

Thinking The Impossible – Could Ron Paul Actually Win?

As hard as it might be to believe, I think the perfect storm is brewing for the 2008 elections. Assuming that the current front runners are the nominees of their respective parties, we’ll end up with a Clinton/Giuliani election. Barring any surprise Vice Presidential nominations, I would predict an easy win for Clinton. Giuliani is going to inspire few republicans to vote. And in spite of Pat Robertson’s deal with Satan, the religious right is going to have a hard time swallowing a vote for Rudy. So Republicans and Democrats alike will assume that Clinton will be a sure thing.

Now suppose, with that mentality, the protest vote comes out in favor of Ron Paul, running as a 3^rd party candidate. Ron Paul would pick up the ‘rabid’ Paul supporters he has now and will surely gain in the coming months. Anti-war democrats will cast a protest vote for Ron Paul, to show their displeasure of Hillary’s hawkish views. Religious right voters will cast a protest vote for Paul to show their displeasure of Rudy’s pro abortion pro gay marriage views. What happens when Ron Paul ends up with all those protest votes? Who knows, but it could be a very interesting election for sure.

Pat Robertson Endorses Rudy Giuliani? Huh??

What's next? Robertson endorsing Satan for VP? At this point I wouldn't be surprised.

When the founder of the Christian Coalition backs a two time divorced, pro-abortion (tax payer funded no less), pro-gay rights presidential candidate with a 'thing' for dressing up in women's clothes, you know something in the world is just not quite right. Perhaps Robertson thought he was selling his soul to this guy instead of Rudy? Isn't he going to be disappointed when he finds out that Rudy can't deliver the goods. But then again, maybe that's not what Pat is looking for.

I'm beginning to believe that Alex Jones might have called it right when he raised suspicions that Pat Robertson and his televangelist friends are not quite what they seem.

WTF is going on at the George Washington University?

Less than a month after hate-speech fliers were posted around campus in the name of a conservative group (but were actually posted by a self proclaimed "anti-hate" group), a bunch of swastikas have shown up around campus, drawn on student's doors. The police have finally arrested someone and guess what? The woman, Sarah Marshak, who complained that someone was drawing the swastikas on her door (ostensibly because she's Jewish) was caught drawing them on her own door! And in another, completely separate incident, another student was caught drawing them on his own door!!! WTF is going on down there? The news keeps reporting that "racial tension is high". Clearly, but why is it self generated? Very bizarre.

BTW, GWU has not yet punished the original hate instigators for the fliers. Surprise, surprise....