stupid, stupid, aaaaaaaaand... stupid

[solarbird]

Creationists win in Texas - and this matters outside of Texas because textbooks made for Texas will be sold in other states.

Anti-vaccination activist wants return of infectious diseases. She's one of those vaccines-cause-autism crazies. The problem is she's getting interviewed places like Time, Good Morning America, and Larry King Live. Not coincidentally, she also has a new book out.

The Bureau of Labour Statistics has a Birth-Death Model I've talked about many times in my economics posts. This month it added 114,000 jobs in March. It subtracted jobs in only one sector (Education and Health Services, -1000), the only sector in the actual data showing job growth; all other sectors lost jobs in substantial numbers (in the real data) but had them added back (in the birth/death model). It would be lovely if this stupid model could be viewed by something other than its crazy, crazy results, but we don't get to see it. Oh well. As always, Mish at Global Economic Trend Analysis talks about this in great detail.

Comments

[blues-kun.livejournal.com]

Why can't we just give Texas back to Mexico?

[whip-lash.livejournal.com]

and this matters outside of Texas

It does, but it also seems to be untrue. At least, I can find no other source which seems to think this was a victory for creationists. The gist of that article seems to be that they won because they're still around and able to put up another fight over biology textbooks in a few months. I think the nati-creationist groups are trying to keep up fundraising pressure, not that I object to that of course.

[dpawtows.livejournal.com]

Phil Platt hass been covering the "Texas is doomed" angle too:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/03/28/texas-wrapup-yup-doomed/#comments

[silussa.livejournal.com]

Marketplace Money put it nicely, I thought, on the Friday night broadcast.

"The unemployment rate is rising one tenth of one percent every week."

They can play with the numbers all they want, but they still can't hide the trend.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

I am so tired of the stupid! I'm just ... AAAAARRRRGGGHHH!

I'm especially fed up with the "vaccines cause autism" people. I'm the father of two autistic boys, so I've done a great deal of reading on this. I didn't read anything during the five years between the birth of my older son and my younger son to make me even consider not vaccinating my younger son, and I've never read anything in the five years since to make me think I've made a mistake.

[ankh-f-n-khonsu.livejournal.com]

She's one of those vaccines-cause-autism crazies.

After several lawsuits, pay-outs by pharmaceutical companies and open concession from the Department of Health and Human Services (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/government-concedes-vacci_b_88323.html), your invective seems misplaced and, following your parlance, "stupid".

There doesn't seem to be enough evidence to think vaccinations are the only causing of rising incidence, but there's very clearly a correlation.

Thank you, ankh

[ummdruff.livejournal.com]

I thought I was gonna have to be the one to challenge consensus reality on that point. May your flaming be minimal.

[unexpected-finn.livejournal.com]

best part of all of this is that presumably the 2nd generation of offspring from the anti-vaccination crazies will be less numerous. ^_^ but in the meantime, it does put the offspring of everyone else at risk.

social Darwinism bites hard, some times.