Samantha Pierce

Today I am thankful for/that: Good judgment, of others if not always my own. Family. Helping hands. Central heating, the heating bill not so much. A good laugh. Modern medicine. What are you tankful for?

Most people would recognise that Dr. Andrew Wakefield is an unethical user of autistic children and their parents but now it is official. MMR doctor Andrew Wakefield 'abused his position of trust' The doctor who first claimed that the MMR vaccine could cause autism has been found guilty of a series of misconduct charges, that include putting children through painful and unnecessary tests, a disciplinary hearing has ruled today. Dr Andrew Wakefield showed "a callous disregard" for the suffering of children and "abused his position of trust" as a doctor in carrying out a study which sparked the biggest vaccine scare in a generation and has been blamed for the resurgence of measles in Britain, the General Medical Council (GMC) found. He was also found to have brought the medical profession "into disrepute" after he took blood samples from youngsters at his son’s birthday party in return for payments of £5 and failed to disclose vital conflicts of inte...

A visual representation of the universe as we know it thus far. Kind of blows the mind. Via Respectful Insolence .

Today I am thankful for/that: Better living through chemistry. Progress, even if it is then followed by two steps back. Good teachers. Good friends. What are you thankful for?

Sullivan at Left Brain/Right Brain comments in the post Forbes on “Stars Vs. Science” once again the autism community looks bad Once again, the Autism community takes it on the chin that our representative in the public eye is, well, in a league of her own when it comes to understanding science. Even though the story is about celebrities and science in general, autism plays a big part in the story as a whole. Autism and the "controversy" over whether or not vaccines cause autism feature prominently in the Forbes article Stars Vs. Science that discusses the maddening phenomenon of people taking medical advice from Hollywood celebrities. When the medical journal Pediatrics released a consensus report early this year concluding that autistic children do not benefit from special diets, ABC News' Diane Sawyer knew just whom to call. Jenny McCarthy, former MTV game host, nude model and now mother of an autistic son Evan, enthusiastically denounced the study. "Until docto...

This explains a lot. Bacon and eggs could help pregnant women boost their baby's intelligence Sis2's response, "Who put that out the pork people?" Via Instapundit who asks , "BACON: IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO?"

Proverbs 22:6 (ESV) 6Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Zakhqurey Price is an 11 year old Arkansas boy who has been diagnosed with autism, among other things. Despite documentation of his diagnosis his school district refused to provide this child with appropriate services. If you thought this sounded like a recipe for disaster for this child you would be right. Fifth grade autistic boy charged with a felony On Oct 30th, Zakhqurey exhibited behaviors manifested by his Autism, which led to restraints. The police were called. In the process of attempting to restrain him, two staff members were injured and filed felony charges against the 11 year old child. They cornered him and tried to take him down, he fought back. There were very minor injuries to principal and teacher. The fifth grader was taken away in handcuffs and booked with juvenile criminals. He has an IQ of 68. What does it teach this child when those tasked with educa...

Today I am thankful for/that: God has mercy on us miserable sinners. We can do what we can. The light at the end of the tunnel is not always another on coming train. Haiti's survivors. What are you thankful for?

This is a meme that seems to be making the rounds on Facebook status updates these days Please put this on your status if you know someone (or are related to someone, or are someone) who has AUTISM. My wish for 2010 is that people will understand autism is not a disease; people with autism are not looking for a cure but for ACCEPTANCE...... 93% won't Copy and Paste this, will YOU make this your status for at least one hour? Now for the most part I agree with the sentiment expressed. Autistic individuals are not broken or diseased and for the most part do not want a cure. Many in fact find the implications of curing something that is such a significant part of who they are to be quiet disturbing, as do I. Autistic individuals do, however, want to be treated with respect same as anyone else. I want to comment though on that last little bit of the status update, "93% won't copy and paste this." It's a common feature with these kinds of status updates that often ruin...

Christmas eve edition! Today I am thankful for/that: The new hoopty handles real nice in the snow. What are you thankful for?

I know lots of you are packing up the kids and heading over the river and through the woods to grandma's. When you get there or while you're on the way take a listen to this. Grandmas and grandpas out there it would be a good idea for you lot to take a listen too. Here's to a harmonious family Christmas. "What Do You Want from Me?" Surviving the In-Laws Psychologist Has Answers Love. Compatibility. Money. Attraction. These are what lovers consider when they decide to tie the knot. In-laws are usually the last thing on their minds. Yet, dealing with your significant other's family can be an everlasting quest…and it can be a factor that helps determine the duration of the marriage. British psychologist Terri Apter has found herself scrambling to deal with some of the very situations she counsels others about. She talks with host Mike Cuthbert about how she maintains a healthy relationship with her in-laws, and what she suggests to others. She’s conducted a study...

Better late than never. This week I am thankful for/that: My warm new leak free winter boots. My super warm duvet, don't even need any blankets with that bad boy. That lovely furnace that keeps churning out all of that warm air (we or course going to ignore the heating bill for the moment). Ethan's conversations with Santa as relayed by his spec ed teacher today. Apparently Santa has his cell phone number (no he doesn't really have a phone) and has promised him a special surprise for the invaluable service that Ethan has rendered to him. The Christmas surprise that Sophia made for me that I'm not allowed to see yet but she couldn't resist informing me of its existence. A good night's sleep. Friends to laugh/cry with as necessary. Second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh chances etc. What are you thankful for?

Hilarious commentary (to me anyway) from Tim Blair on the race politics of climategate: Robert James Taylor of the National Black News Journal : Blacks should not join the global warming battle or accept new taxes or restrictions on their lives until the truth about global warming is actually known. I dream of a day when this freedom is also granted to whites. More from the Taylor article: The CRU is the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia near Norwich, England. The CRU is populated by British and American scientists who more than any other group in the world has been responsible for the computer models and measurements upon which the bulk of global warming predictions are based. Indeed, President Obama was in Copenhagen this week pushing an anti-global warming agenda based largely on CRU data. There is just one problem: Global warming has actually stopped. Yes, the planet’s mean temperature did rise for at least 30 consecutive years but somewhere around the ...

Today I am thankful for/that: Yesterday was Wednesday and today is Thursday and I did not forget to go to dance class as I thought when I woke up at 1:20AM this morning. The gleeful squeals of children making tracks in the snow. Central heating. No cavities for the kids during their latest dentist appointments. Friends. Freedom. Baby Pierce version 5.0 due out in June 2010. Plus so little morning sickness that I was tempted to ask doc if he hadn't been mistaken. What are you thankful for?

Today I am thankful for/that: The joy of the children over Christmas. Reminders from the children about the true meaning of Christmas. It's nice to know that they've been paying attention. Bedtime quiet. Laughter. Friendship. What are you thankful for?

I'm starting to feel like one of those gawkers who turn out to see how bad the three car pile up is. Anyway, Pajamas Media has put together a climategate database for you to peruse and comment on at your leisure. Here are a couple of interesting reads, Global warming consensus: garbage in, garbage out and Climategate and Scientific Journal Chicanery Reading the comments section of just about any article on global warming climate change policy is particularly amusing these days since the articles almost universally ignore the unfolding climategate scandal but it keeps cropping up in the comments sections of these articles. This story amusingly tries to make the argument that CRU scientists and their contacts trying to keep papers that have differing conclusions from their own from being published was actually an attempt to protect the public from "junk" science, Stolen E-Mails Raise Questions On Climate Research . In this case "junk" science being anything tha...

In another chapter of the Scientists behaving Badly saga the rumblings of lawsuits and congressional probes over the information in leaked emails and files from CRU have begun (via Instapundit). Competitive Enterprise Institute Sues NASA in Wake of Climategate Scandal Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed three Notices of Intent to File Suit against NASA and its Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), for those bodies’ refusal — for nearly three years — to provide documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act. The information sought is directly relevant to the exploding “Climategate” scandal revealing document destruction, coordinated efforts in the U.S. and UK to avoid complying with both countries’ freedom of information laws, and apparent and widespread intent to defraud at the highest levels of international climate science bodies. Numerous informed commenters had alleged such behavior for years, all of which appears to be affirmed by leaked emails, compu...

I like Scientists Behaving Badly much better than Climategate. We don't really need another X-gate. Although this "gate" is more like the original than some of the other "gates" that have been christened as such. Anyway, here's a round up of facts and opinion on the revelations in the hacked emails and data from University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit (CRU). Most of these I picked up from Instapundit . Climate cuttings 33 , summaries of some of what's in those hacked CRU files. Climategate, Coal Mine Deaths, Air Pollution and Coals assault on human health . I'm not sure I would agree with everything this blogger concludes about coal but this is certainly true, "The over reaching on the science and over aggressive tactics are now blowing up in face of the pro-global warming side." This from the comments section regarding claims about climate conditions in the earth's past also rings true, "How can you trust that these con...

"Democrats Clinch Vote on Health Debate." In case you want to talk about it. I'll just be over here in a corner curled up in a little ball. This is made all the more amusing to me, in a grim gallows humor kind of way, by the fact that she voted for President Obama. Lets see how much tighter we can cinch up those belts folks!

Apparently some place called University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit got hacked. Their emails and data on global warming climate change are all over the internet. There was initial caution that the data and emails might have been fakes but they have since been confirmed to be the real deal. Why should anyone care about information hacked from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit? Well only because they've apparently been massaging their data to get the desired results with regard to global warming climate change. The desired result being that the planet is warming and that the warming is the fault of mankind. So much for the integrity of the scientific process. There's a post full of updates here , the most amusing of which so far is, "UPDATE VI. The BBC declines to cover this story, preferring a piece on mammoth dung ." Reactions from our part of the globe can be found here . Both posts provide access to the leaked information for you to ev...