Kind Mr Fry over on Twitter has pointed me in the direction of this http://www.badscience.net/2009/02/legal-chill-from-lbc-973-over-jeni-barnetts-mmr-scaremongering/. When you read it you have to highlight the text as it has legal issues.
The general jist is that Jeni Barnett on LBC has been pontificating about the MMR vaccine and its risks. This whole story, started by Andrew Wakefield over 10 years ago, has been widely discredited and yet she picks up the baton and scares another generation of parents. The upshot of the original misinformation was that vaccine take up dropped to 75% and is threatening 'herd immunity' - that is, even if you've had the vaccine, if less than 80% of the population is immunised at any given time, the strain of the disease can proliferate and you can become infected. And measles isn't a case of two days in bed and itchy spots. It can kill.
And silly women who promote stupid urban myths are just silly. Supposed journalists ought to know better.
Edit: Hooray! Someone has YouTubed so you can follow the above with the below!
The BBC has a film sent in by a viewer which I wish with all my heart was on Uchoobe so I could post it but instead is on their website here. It's a stoat going completely postal in the snow. Now, the Beeb points out that the video has no sound. So watch it and say the following out loud:
Are you kids ready?! Are you READYYYYYYY?
WHY not? Look, that's not how you put your socks on. Now, where are my keys. Where are they? WHERE ARE MY BLOODY KEYS?!
WHEREAREMYBLOODYKEYSWE'RELATEANDICAN'TFINDMYKEYSANDWE'LL
MISSSHOWANDTELLANDPUTTHATRUDDYSPACESHIPDOWNOHITISFORSHOW
ANDTELLOKTHAT'SALRIGHTTHENOHWHERETHEHELLARETHEKEYSOHFORF***'S
SAKEGETAMOVEONCAN'TYOUSEEI'MLOOKINGFORSOMETING...
what do you mean, the school's closed?
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Beware - he's loud and a very, very, VERY rude boy who needs to wash his mouth out with soap. And he very obviously doesn't have to try and do his job while a 13 month-old child dangles from his trouser leg. At least I think that's what he's doing...
Ha ha. Ahahaha. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (and note the contrast between Obama kissing the baby and Bush doing same...)
The media has itself in a froth about schools in the South of England closing because of a gentle dusting of snow. Being from oop north myself, we'd sit in class, teeth chattering, frost forming on the inside of the windows begging for a snow day. One would be begrudgingly given if the snow topped five feet and the boiler packed up.
And yet I still don't begrudge the sissy sassenachs their snow (frost?) day. It happens rarely enough as it is and a sudden unexpected blast of good fortune is what makes childhood memorable. The children weren't in class learning about the Battle of Agincourt or how many fathoms in a farthingale or somesuch. However, they got important practical demonstrations of projectiles, the Battle of Hastings and pure, unadulterated, not-sponsored-by-Sony-or-Apple FUN! C'mon guys - the kids are alright!!
(and face it, we got a duvet day too, right?)
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