Best of the week: In 1998, Andrew Wakefield, a gastroenterologist at London's Royal Free Hospital, published a study in the prestigious medical journal Lancet that linked the triple Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine with autism and bowel disorders in children. The study - and Wakefield's subsequent public statements that parents should refuse the vaccines - sparked a public health panic that led vaccination rates in Britain to plunge and set off a wave of anti-vaccination hysteria that has been championed by D-listers and celebrity parents.
Wakefield's study has since been discredited, and the MMR vaccine deemed to be safe. And now medical authorities in the U.K. have also ruled that the manner in which Wakefield carried out his research was unethical. The General Medical Council ruled that Wakefield acted "dishonestly and irresponsibly" during his research and with "callous disregard" for the children involved in his study. Wakefield, who now heads an autism research center in Austin, Texas, described the decision as "unfounded and unjust." He added that he had "no regrets" over his work.
The General Medical Council, which will now decide whether to revoke Wakefield's medical license, highlighted several areas where Wakefield acted against the interest of the children involved in the 1998 study. It criticized Wakefield for carrying out invasive tests, such as colonoscopies and spinal taps, without due regard for how the children involved might be affected. It also cited Wakefield's method of gathering blood samples - he paid children at his son's birthday party $8 to give blood - and said that Wakefield displayed a "callous disregard for the distress and pain the children might suffer." The panel also criticized Wakefield for failing to disclose that, while carrying out the research, he was being paid by lawyers acting for parents who believed their children had been harmed by the MMR jab.
The panel's ruling follows a refutation of Wakefield's research from the scientific community. Ten of 13 authors in the Lancet study have since renounced the study's conclusions. The journal has said it should not have published the study in the first place, and various other studies have failed to corroborate Wakefield's hypothesis. Despite this, the effects of the media frenzy surrounding Wakefield's research continue to be felt in Britain. Vaccination rates among toddlers plummeted from over 90% in the mid-1990s to below 70% in some places by 2003. Following this drop, Britain saw an increase in measles cases at a time when the disease had been all but eradicated in many developed countries. In 1998, there were just 56 cases of the disease in England and Wales; by 2008 there were 1,370.
Despite assurances from various health bodies that Wakefield's study was seriously flawed, he still has a dedicated following among parents concerned about a rise in autism rates in the U.K. and U.S. - the cause of which has so far baffled health experts. At least one of the myths is no longer clouding the attempt to solve the mystery.
Basically, to sum up: suck it Jenny McCarthy!
Plus: A Southern California man has been arrested on suspicion of posing as a federal marshal to kidnap a distant cousin's wife and put her on a plane to the Philippines.Wearing a fake badge and a shirt imprinted with "U.S. Federal Agent," Gregory Denny, turned up at the Hemet home of Craig Hibbard, a distant cousin, on January 15. Displaying what turned out to be a pellet gun, Denny reportedly handcuffed Hibbard's wife, Cherrie Belle, and told the couple she was being deported. Denny allegedly drove Belle (28), to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection station in Murrieta.
When he was told there was no warrant for her in the computer system, Denny apparently returned to the couple's house and instructed her husband to purchase a ticket for her online to her home country. Police were told Denny drove the woman to San Diego International Airport, where he flashed his fake badge to get through security. He allegedly escorted her to the departure gate, uncuffed her and watched her board a plane to San Francisco en route to Manila, where she remains.
When Hibbard reported the matter, police reached Denny by telephone and asked him to come into the station for questioning. Denny arrived wearing the "U.S. Federal Agent" shirt, identified himself to police as a U.S. marshal and verified the family's general account of what happened. "This person is not and never was employed by the U.S. Marshals Service, and as far as we can ascertain, has never been employed by any law enforcement agency in any capacity," the Hemet Police Department said in a statement.
Police arrested Denny last month on suspicion of kidnapping, false imprisonment, impersonating a peace officer, burglary and false arrest. He was released the next day on $50,000 bail and is expected in court February 16. The Riverside County district attorney's office is considering whether to file charges, and Hemet police also notified the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration.
Three days after Hibbard's wife was put on the plane, Hibbard said, he called the U.S. Marshals Service and was told that Denny was not an agent. He called Hemet police. Hibbard said that his wife is five months pregnant and that they have been married for three years. He said she canceled her green card last year in a dispute with him, saying she wanted to go home to the Philippines. The couple later reconciled and she tried to renew her immigration documents. Hibbard said they were told by immigration officials in San Bernardino that she was allowed to remain in the U.S. while her application was being processed.
There is no clear motive except, but it is said that Denny "felt he was doing a 'favor' for the family, and that they, the family, wanted her deported," according to authorities.
Also: Actor Rip Torn was so intoxicated when he broke into a Connecticut bank carrying a loaded gun that he thought he was home, taking off his hat and boots and leaving them by the door, according to court records. Winner!He was wearing the same battered boots Monday when he was arraigned on several charges after spending the weekend in a police holding cell near his hometown of Salisbury. Torn, who did not enter a plea, was released on $100,000 bond a few hours. He was given probation last year in a Connecticut drunken driving case and allowed to enter an alcohol education program. He completed the first stage of that program. He also has two previous drunken driving arrests in New York.
Torn is accused of breaking into the Litchfield Bancorp branch through a window Friday night in Salisbury, where officers responding to an alarm found him wandering in the lobby and nearly incoherent. According to court records, Torn was disoriented, reeked of alcohol and asked the state police troopers repeatedly why they were taking him out of his home.
Officers found a loaded .22-caliber revolver in Torn's pocket and a breath test showed his blood-alcohol content as 0.203% — more than twice the 0.08 legal limit for driving in Connecticut. Torn is charged with criminal trespass, carrying a gun without a permit, carrying a gun while intoxicated, burglary and criminal mischief. His case was transferred to a court in Litchfield that handles more serious cases because of the weapons charges.
Torn remembers nothing of that night. Though you have to give the guy a break...he was in The Beastmaster.
And: A Muslim prayer leader accused of encouraging his followers to commit violence against the U.S. government was shot 20 times during an FBI raid at a suburban warehouse last fall, according to an autopsy report. What happened - they run out of bullets?
The autopsy was completed a month after Luqman Ameen Abdullah's death, but police were granted a delay in releasing the results while they investigate the October 28 shooting. The FBI says agents were trying to arrest Abdullah at a Dearborn warehouse when he resisted and fired a gun. Abdullah (53) died instantly - you better beleive it.
Abdullah's body was handcuffed and on the floor of a semitrailer when his investigator arrived at the shooting scene. "You cannot tell by the gunshot wounds whether he was lying down, standing up, sitting" when he was shot, reporters were told by the FBI. "It is impossible to say which one was the fatal gunshot wound. It was a combination of gunshot wounds." A FBI spokeswoman added anyone subject to an arrest warrant is handcuffed "no matter what the circumstances" for the safety of agents and the public.
Abdullah, also known as Christopher Thomas, was the imam of a small mosque in Detroit that served mostly black Muslims. At the time, he and 11 allies were being pursued for federal crimes, chiefly conspiracy to sell stolen goods in an FBI sting operation. The FBI says Abdullah was spreading a radical anti-government ideology that called for an Islamic state within the U.S.
A lawyer for Abdullah's family, questioned the FBI's tactics. "A lot of raids are conducted when a suspect has a gun. That doesn't mean you shoot them 20 times." Actually, you do. Because America needs to have a harder look to the rest of the world. you try and start a holy war in our backyard? Sorry, that's two dozen rounds you'll be absorbing. Listen To Henry Rollins' "World Peace" riff on Think Tank and you'll agree: "I think we're getting a little too soft, a little too plump. I think we're going to be sitting in our easy chair with the satellite remote when they come to kill us."
Best picture of the week:
slightly more than just a hobby
Best bonus links:
• Pet Owner Killed By Dogs After Saving Them from Death - Would you beleive they were starving before they were rescued?
• Charlize Theron Splits With Beau Of 9 Years - And I'll take the rebound...even if she doesn't have that black Aeon Flux 'do.
• This Is Gross / Pete Wentz Is Unemployed / This Is Getting Sad(der) - As always, WWTDD kills it.
• Sen. Brown: I'm Not Against My Daughters Posing Nude - You know something? Neither am I.
• Only Living American WWI Vet Turns 109 In West Virgina - His best film pick? Avatar (duh).
• Exotic Cobra Bites Woman In Baltimore Shopping Center Parking Lot - "The woman...had been in a shopping center parking lot when she bent down to pick up what she thought was a stick." What? Why? Lady, you're so stupid you deserved that bite.
• Los Angeles County Declines To Force Condom Use In Porn Films - Good, because I was about to decline to watch them if that was the case.
• Mother And Infant Shot Out Of The Sky - And there's video? Damn right this is getting posted!
• HIV / AIDS Drug Puzzle Cracked - Time to fuck!!!
• Twins Different DNA Sparks Parents Divorce -
• SNL Did Greasy Sax Man - Mainstream television gets a meme!
Worst of the week: Goblin "Miley's little sister" Cyrus (aka Noah) is the result of a monster fused with a child prostitute.
And now, she is teaming up with her bestie Emily Grace Reaves (9) to launch a clothing line for Ooh! La, La! Couture. The line will be called the Emily Grace Collection but both girls will wear the designs on their YouTube series Noie & Ems, touring with Miley and on the red carpet. This is a monumentally creepy idea and inappropriate - unless you want to have your little girl abducted because she looked like she was "asking for it".
“Emily is launching the clothing line along with her BFF and costar Noah Cyrus,” the press release states. And the pieces promise to have a “trendy, sweet, yet edgy feel.” Like underage whores. In a clip on their YouTube channel, Noah and Emily showed off their outfits to Miley backstage at one of her tour stops. Noah is wearing a tank top, black tulle skirt and argyle socks while Emily is decked out in a leopard print ensemble with fishnets. “I want one of those,” Miley says to Emily in the clip. Yeah, sure you do.
By the way, you didn't misread that - fishnets on a nine year old girl. Pedophiles of the world, rejoice!
Also: Agents for Britain's MI5 intelligence service have discovered that Muslim doctors trained at some of Britain's leading teaching hospitals have returned to their own countries to fit surgical implants filled with explosives. Least bootylicious story ever.
Women suicide bombers recruited by al-Qaida are known to have had the explosives inserted in their breasts under techniques similar to breast enhancing surgery. The lethal explosives – usually PETN (pentaerythritol Tetrabitrate) – are inserted during the operation inside the plastic shapes. The breast is then sewn up.
Similar surgery has been performed on male suicide bombers. In their cases, the explosives are inserted in the appendix area or in a buttock. Both are parts of the body that diabetics use to inject themselves with their prescribed drugs.
The discovery of these methods was made after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab came close to blowing up an airliner on Christmas Day with explosives he had stuffed inside his underpants. Hours after he had failed, GCHQ – Britain's worldwide eavesdropping "spy in the sky" agency – began to pick up "chatter" emanating from Pakistan and Yemen that alerted MI5 to the creation of the lethal implants. Top surgeons who work in the National Health Service confirmed the feasibility of the explosive implants.
"Properly inserted the implant would be virtually impossible to detect by the usual airport scanning machines. You would need to subject a suspect to a sophisticated X-ray. Given that the explosive would be inserted in a sealed plastic sachet, and would be a small amount, would make it all the more impossible to spot it with the usual body scanner."
Explosive experts at Britain's Porton Down biological and chemical warfare research center told MI5 that a sachet containing as little as five ounces of PETN when activated would blow "a considerable hole" in an airline's skin which would guarantee it would crash.
I knew there was a reason I never liked fake boobs. Although this is a bit hysterical.
Plus: Two parties have now filed to make “The Situation,” nickname of Michael Sorrentino of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” , a registered trademark. One petition was filed by some guy in Jersey who hopes to start a clothing line; the other was filed by Sorrentino’s brother, who runs a variety of pron sites out of Las Vegas. The Smoking Gun has the actual documents, if for some reason you want to study them.
The complication here is that “The Situation” is Sorrentino’s nickname for his abs. What the fuck does that even mean? If the petition is registered, will you no longer be allowed to have abs? Are abs permissible, so long as you call them something else clearly distinguishable from “The Situation”? And if that legal mess doesn't stink enough, you can always smell like "The Situation"
Yes, he's launching his own fragrance. “The name is just, it’s pretty cool. Who wouldn’t buy a cologne called Sitch by Situation?” he told Access Hollywood, the only news "source" that cared. “It’s in the beginnings right now, but it should be coming out hopefully in the next couple months.” The Situation added that he’d be checking out scents in the coming days. “[I’m] a pretty spontaneous person. I don’t even know, as soon as I find something that I like, I’ll say, ‘That’s it! That is The Situation, and we’ll grab it.’”
Yes, we'll grab it and smash it.
And: Twenty-five years after star-studded anthem "We Are the World" raised millions of dollars to aid famine relief in Africa, "celebrities" of a different generation gathered to re-record the charity tune to benefit Haiti. I would rather burn $5 than donate it to Haiti through this shitty abortion of a remake.
Among those scheduled to perform on the revamped track the night after the Grammy Awards were Akon, Jason Mraz, Wyclef Jean, Enrique Iglesias, Usher, Toni Braxton and Lady Gaga. The session will be held at the same recording studio where the original was cut — the historic A&M complex in Hollywood.
Quincy Jones, who produced the 1985 anthem, announced last week that he planned to redo the song, because that would be easier than actually writing something unique and new. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, who is also involved, the original "We Are the World" thundered up the charts when it was released on the radio and in record stores in March 1985. The song featured 45 superstars, including Jackson, Richie, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan and Cyndi Lauper. Pretty much all those showing up for this recording couldn't wipe the asses of that group.
The whole thing is just lazy and uninspired, and will undoubtedly diminish the original's quality and intent. That (backwards even before the disaster) nation should be helped, but I'd rather destroy money than validate that song.
Worst picture of the week:
kill it...kill it with fire! Worst bonus links:
• Studies Reveal Why Kids Get Bullied And Rejected - Did we need a study to tell us the kids who smell, eat their boogers, and are dumber than the others are ostercised?
• Swedish Rapper Convicted Of 2nd-Degree Murder - Eminem isn't the only white rapper who is keeping it real.
• Glamour Model Katie Price Marries Again - If your publisist has to say, "Their decision to marry has not been made with any pre-conceived commercial plan or media deal in place, and their reason for getting married is purely down to their love for each other", then I wouldn't plan on ordering the couple anything from their registry just yet.
• Haiti PM: US Baptists Knew Removing Kids Was Wrong - Who's really going to miss 33 kids from an impoverished devistated island? Besides, Jesus told them to do it.
• Sandra Bullock Poised For First Oscar - What took them so long? Oh yeah...Love Potion No. 9, The Vanishing, The Thing Called Love, Demolition Man, Speed, While You Were Sleeping, The Net, Two If By Sea, Speed 2: Cruise Control, Hope Floats, Practical Magic, Forces Of Nature, 28 Days, Miss Congeniality, Murder By Numbers, Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Two Weeks Notice, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous, The Lake House, Premonition, and All About Steve.
• Border Fence Plagued By Glitches, Long Delays - Or in other words, hurry up and take advantage of our unmaintained borders!
• Drunk Driver Had 49 Children In 16-Seat Taxi - Was that a school bus or a family reunion? Besides, kids are small anyway...they're like 1/2 a person at most.
• Iran Sends Rocket With Animal Menagerie Into Space - This is cruel and disrespectful to their women. First, Muslims put explosives in them, now they launch them into space?
• Video: Versus Believes Datsyuk, Zetterberg Have Tremendous Sex - Gaffes ahoy!
• Priest Checks Fngerprints For Mass Attendance - A little invasive, but at least that's the only thing that they're going to be examining
• Prius Brakes Questioned; Toyota Probe Expands - More legitimate, unarguable reasons to hate the Prius. Maybe that's karma for the smug pricks who drive them.
• Four Hurt In Super Bowl Stage Collapse - Now it's questionable if they'll be able to be part of the collapse on the day of the game.
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