ROCKY the PUGGLE

Wakefield, RI to Indianapolis, IN
December 12, 2009

Rocky’s parents were going to put him down last weekend because he is food aggressive. Through the magic of the internet, his plight ended up in my Inbox, and a rescue was found who was willing to take him in. He is in a temporary foster home now, but he needs to move all the way to Indianapolis on Saturday the 12th so he can hitch a ride the rest of the way to Minneapolis with another transport of mine on the 13th. It starts early and it runs late, and I apologize for that, but he’s got a LONG way to go on his first day!

Rocky

No Rocky Roads for this puggle – please help him get to his rescue!!

Please, please, please – I need crossposting help from EVERYONE!!

Transport Coordinator:
PLEASE CONTACT DIRECTLY IF YOU CAN HELP
Kelly Gibson
mdgrrrl@msn.com

Please provide the following:
Leg offered:
First & Last Name:
Location (city/state):
Please provide full address if volunteering for an overnight.
Email:
Is email available from home or only work?
Home phone:
Cell phone:
Vehicle make/model/color/etc:
Name of coordinators or groups for whom you’ve driven before. If none, please give vet name and contact number.
Recommended meeting place, if any:

Passenger details are at the bottom of the post.

SATURDAY, DEC 12

LEG 1: Wakefield, RI to New Haven, CT
86.3 miles; 1 hr 34 min
7:00 AM – 8:30 AM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 2: New Haven, CT to Hackensack, NJ
79.5 miles; 1 hr 20 min
8:40 AM – 10:00 AM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 3: Hackensack, NJ to Annandale, NJ
57 miles; 57 min
10:10 AM – 11:10 AM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 4: Annandale, NJ to Allentown, PA
41.3 miles; 41 min
11:20 AM – 12:00 PM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 5: Allentown, PA to Harrisburg, PA
73.9 miles; 1 hr 8 min
12:10 PM – 1:20 PM EST
Filled – thank you Dan & Sue!!

LEG 6: Harrisburg, PA to Breezewood, PA
81.8 miles; 1 hr 18 min
1:30 PM – 2:50 PM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 7: Breezewood, PA to New Stanton, PA
87.8 miles; 1 hr 20 min
3:00 PM – 4:20 PM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 8: New Stanton, PA to Wheeling, WV
71.2 miles; 1 hr 8 min
4:30 PM – 5:40 PM EST
Filled – thank you Rosanna!!

LEG 10: Wheeling, WV to Zanesville, OH
73 miles; 1 hr 12 min
5:50 PM – 7:00 PM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 11: Zanesville, OH to Columbus, OH
61 miles; 1 hr
7:10 PM – 8:10 PM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 12: Columbus, OH to Richmond, IN
96.3 miles; 1 hr 28 min
8:20 PM – 9:50 PM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 13: Richmond, IN to Indianapolis, IN
67.2 miles; 1 hr 4 min
10:00 PM – 11:05 PM EST
Filled – thank you Nichole!!

OVERNIGHT IN / AROUND INDIANAPOLIS, IN
Filled – thank you Nichole!!

Rocky joins another transport on Sunday morning.

*************************************
PASSENGER DETAILS
NOTE: All dogs on the transport are UTD on shots and will be accompanied by a health certificate.
*************************************

RECEIVER:
Wags & Whiskers
Minneapolis, MN
www.wagsmn.com
Katie Archambault

SENDER:
Kelly Gibson
Puggles & Pitties
San Diego, CA

http://pugglesnpitties.petfinder.com

In temporary foster with:
Celeste Long
Wakefield, RI

PASSENGER:

ROCKY
Male puggle
Approx 2 yrs old
Will be UTD on shots before transport
Already neutered
FOOD AGGRESSIVE – do not allow him near ANY food or treats, whether intended for dogs or humans!!

Earlier this year I wrote several posts about Wakefield’s two railway stations, Westgate and Kirkgate, and described them as the Good and the Bad. (Type WKK into the search box at the top of the right hand column to find all my posts about Kirkgate, the bad station.) Our local newspaper, the Wakefield Express, has kept up its campaign throughout this year to have something done about improving safety and facilities at Kirkgate. There have been visits from Network Rail, Wakefield Council, Metro, and even Lord Adonis the Transport Minister. There has been lots of talk and jostling for position about which organisation was financially responsible for improving things but little has actually been done so far, although just recently CCTV cameras have been installed but there is some doubt about whether or not they are continuously monitored.

Now things are set to improve early in the New Year. Grand Central is planning to introduce a new “West Riding” service from Bradford, Halifax, Brighouse, Wakefield Kirkgate and Pontefract Monkhill to Doncaster and London from May 2010.

I used to visit Wakefield Kirkgate regularly during my train-spotting years (1943-47). It was then the sole province of LMS (the London Midland and Scottish Railway) and the approach tracks into Kirkgate from the west went right past my bedroom window. My best friend and I regularly used to walk the short distance from our homes to the station. After watching the passenger train comings and goings on the three platforms, and noting the locomotive numbers in our Ian Allen ABC books, we frequently wandered unchallenged into the adjacent sheds (Code 25A) – no helmets and no Day-Glo jackets! We became well-known and were often invited onto locomotive footplates. My very first ever train ride was a day trip to Blackpool from Kirkgate just after the end of the war.

Regular readers of this Blog will know that now, in retirement, I regularly buy 14-day All Lines Rover Tickets which allow me to travel where and when I want over the entire UK Network. (Yes, I know that’s sad – but I enjoy it and I’ve reached an age when I can do what I want!).

I hope to be on the first Grand Central train to Kings Cross and back in May next – and I’ll write a post about the trip.

You might have spotted them in the last month or so, manning their little table in front of a local Post Office or some other busy public building. They have posters and signs depicting President Barack Obama – altered so that he is sporting a Hitler mustache.

Charming.

These are the Lyndon LaRouche loonies, and they like to show up on sidewalks and public events, handing out their unintelligible screeds and engaging anyone who would talk to them.

They are followers of Lyndon H. LaRouche, a self-styled economist, political activist, and the founder of several political organizations known collectively as “the LaRouche movement.” He has been a perennial candidate for President of the United States, having run in eight elections since 1976 and as recently as 2004.

I’m still trying to figure out if these LaRouche folks are so far to the left that they’re on the right or if it’s the other way around. Either way, they are on the fringe of the fringe.

Clearly, it’s the posters and flyers with the altered image of President Obama that catch most people’s eye and provoke the most outrage, as they should. I hope those who are rightly offended by these posters were just as offended by similar Hitlerized images of George Bush that were carried at demonstrations and posted online for the previous eight years. But somehow, I doubt that that’s the case.

It seems the further we get from the real horror of Hitler’s Nazi’s, the more cavalier some people become about the symbols and images associated with Hitler. To suggest that any American president bears any political or moral resemblance to the genocidal maniac Hitler is as absurd as it is offensive.

Lately, the LaRouche followers have set their sights on Obama’s plans to overhaul health care. They have been showing up at many of the “tea party” protests and “town hall meetings.” And guess who the media and critics of the tea party movement zero in on. That’s right – they focus on the one or two LaRouche followers holding big signs with the altered Obama-as-Hitler image and attempt to characterize everyone at the rallies as like-minded kooks.

What’s never mentioned is that the sign-holders represent Lyndon LaRouche, who ran seven times for president – as a Democrat. In fairness, the mainstream Democratic Party has never accepted LaRouche. But somehow, in their haste to discredit honest critics of the current health care overhaul plan by pointing to these isolated Obama/Hitler sign holders, nobody ever mentions LaRouche’s connection to the Democratic Party.

Wherever I see the LaRouche followers carrying signs with the image of Obama sporting a Hitler mustache, I’m reminded of the words of John Lennon, who brought a pragmatic approach to his protest of the Vietnam War. In his song, “Revolution,” Lennon offered these words of advice to the radicals who had infiltrated many of the 1960’s peace demonstrations.

“If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao,
You ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow.”

Wise words, even today, whether the pictures are of Mao or Hitler.

“I believe the architect can fully express himself as an artist by means of concrete.” Marcel Breuer 1973

It certainly possesses great sculptural power and what better material for a building dedicated to one of the greatest Modernist sculptors, Barbara Hepworth? The concrete has a sensual quality with its subtle pinkish/slate grey hue. It’s a fascinating building to walk around and see in different weather conditions. Its lines and volumes are sharply defined and intriguingly articulated. It’s a building that unfolds and doesn’t offer itself up all at once, making excellent use of a dramatic site on the River Calder.

November 29th was my third night (minus Saturday) of the week attending the shows at the Black Sheep Inn.
Playing at the show were:
Leif Vollebekk

Matt Epp

Both singers were truly amazing.
I’ve seen Leif Vollebekk alot of times that I can’t keep count. This time his set was tape for a CBC Radio “Canada Live” show.
He played the usual tracks from Inlands, few new songs and few covers.
So stay tuned to when that show will be played.
You should get his album Inlands.

Matt Epp was my first time seeing live.
He is a really amazing singer, his music was very mind blowing.
I didn’t know he is friends with Matt Mays and his band.
He played a longer set due the second artist who was suppose to play couldn’t make it up to the venue.
Should have gotten his album but maybe next time but he was truly entertaining.

So this ends my fun three nights at the Black Sheep Inn.
But I did get to see the elusive black dog whose name is Wilbur. What a cute and friendly dog.
Thanks for the lovely Amanda Putz for the ride down to the Sheep.

Wakefield, Massachusetts votes itself a new tax

The 2009 Regular Town Meeting proved to be a taxing one – and not just for those who hung in for the entire three and a half hours. Town Meeting backed two new local taxes: one that will bring the tax on a restaurant meal in Wakefield to 7 percent and another that hikes the hotel occupancy tax from 4 to 6 percent. So it was a taxing Town Meeting even if you didn’t sit through it.

Over the years, Wakefield voters have shown themselves to be reliably frugal when they go to the polls, handily voting down Prop. 2½ overrides and outsized budgets. Town Meeting, on the other hand, has tended to be looser with the public purse strings.

So this week, Town Meeting approved a .75 percent local option meals tax that will be added to the present 6.25 percent meals tax that was just increased from 5 percent last August 1. At the same time, the state hiked the sales tax from 5 percent to 6.25 percent.

The state also decided to give cities and towns the “option” to levy an additional .75 percent local meals tax, making it 7 percent in communities that approved it. Wakefield is now one of those communities. The state will collect the additional .75 percent along with its own meals tax and then return the local funds to the town on a quarterly basis.

But not everyone at Town Meeting was on board with the new tax.

“The state does not honor its commitments,” Former FinCom Chairman Marc Luca said, pointing to Chapter 70 local aid and the Quinn Bill as examples. He also noted that the state had just hiked alcohol and tobacco taxes. “The taxes just don’t end,” Luca observed, and most would be hard-pressed to prove him wrong.

Luca also pointed to the number of restaurants on Water St. alone that have failed recently, notably Toody’s and Dettorre’s. “I just don’t see the economic environment being able to sustain new businesses at a higher tax rate,” he said.

Several speakers in favor of the local option meals tax suggested that consumers “wouldn’t notice” an additional 37 cents on a $50 restaurant bill or even 75 cents on a $100 tab. But let’s not forget that just last August the state hiked its portion of the meals tax from 5 to 6.25 percent. It’s easy to say that you won’t notice one or the other, but these increases do not exist independent of each other.

Wakefield’s meals tax has now increased 2 percent since last August. That’s $2 on a $100 restaurant bill. Will people notice that? Maybe it won’t matter to the childless yuppie couple with the six-figure income, but what about the blue collar working class (assuming they’re still working in this economy) family of five? Will they miss the $2?

Grafton St. resident Dan Brown noted that the meals tax in Massachusetts had its genesis as a “temporary” tax. He also reviewed the history of other “temporary” taxes and fees in the state. On the question of whether a local option tax could be repealed if the state failed to give all the money back to Wakefield, Brown did not mince words.

“Hell will freeze over before this or any other tax is repealed,” he said.

When the Board of Selectmen held its public hearing on September 14 on the local option meals tax, no residents showed up, despite the fact that the hearing was well-publicized, including a front page story in the Wakefield Daily Item. Then, at Town Meeting, Wakefield citizens made a decision to vote themselves a new tax.

Will the day come when the residents of Wakefield, Massachusetts will decide that they are paying enough taxes? Maybe. But as of this week, that day has not yet arrived.

[This column originally appeared in the November 19, 2009 Wakefield Daily Item.]

COPIO-INCOLLO UN LUNGO ESAURIENTE ARTICOLO DA MEDBUNKER

Nonostante siano stati dichiarati come la migliore scoperta medica degli ultimi due secoli, anche le vaccinazioni sono entrate nel grande libro delle cospirazioni. I vaccini hanno salvato l’umanità o l’hanno condannata? Sono un bene o una maledizione? Perchè tanto clamore e paura attorno alle vaccinazioni?

Cercherò di rispondere a qualche domanda che sempre più (e soprattutto “grazie” ad internet) crea confusione e spesso il timore che vaccinandosi possa succedere l’irreparabile.

L’argomento è vastissimo ma ho scoperto che riserva delle sorprese ed in certi punti, visto i risvolti che ha avuto l’argomento “vaccini” diventa molto interessante quasi un romanzo.

Che i vaccini in alcuni casi (molto rari, conosciuti, documentati, noti) possa causare la stessa malattia per cui ci si vaccina o una complicanza, è risaputo (il farmaco per definizione ha un effetto e si utilizza quando quello positivo supera di gran lunga l’eventualità di quello negativo); si tratta di un’evenienza particolarmente rara ma possibile. E’ anzi importante esserne coscienti per fare della vaccinazione una scelta consapevole. Questo può accadere in quei vaccini nei quali si usa come agente, il virus (ad esempio) vivo ma dalla virulenza attenuata. Ma l’accusa più “forte” lanciata contro i vaccini è che questi causino malattie diverse da quelle che dovrebbero combattere e soprattutto che questo sia provato, come l’autismo. La principale causa sarebbe la presenza nei flaconi di farmaco di conservanti a base di mercurio, sostanza tossica.

Eppure per decenni i vaccini hanno rappresentato la salvezza di tanti bambini nel mondo ed hanno aumentato il livello di salute non solo di singoli individui ma di intere nazioni e quindi di tutto il pianeta. Le mamme facevano la fila per vaccinare i figli, qualche anno fa la vaccinazione era quasi un rituale una sorta di “ingresso” in società: un bimbo vaccinato era un bimbo sano mentre le malattie erano della gente povera, ignorante; la vaccinazione insomma era una conquista sociale. C’era entusiasmo per la nuova eccezionale scoperta scientifica.

Poi la “normalità” e l’abitudine al traguardo raggiunto fece succedere qualcosa. La paura di morire per malattie contagiose è diminuita progressivamente. La mancata percezione di queste malattie, il benessere, hanno allontanato da chi è (oggi) un genitore (e per ironia della sorte lo è anche perchè vaccinato) dalle paure e dalle fobie di qualche decennio fa ribaltando l’oggetto di quei timori.
Quando è iniziata quindi la “fobia dei vaccini”? Esistono delle prove che giustifichino l’allarme? E’ tutto vero o è la solita inutile ed allarmistica “propaganda” complottista?
E soprattutto, che interesse avrebbero degli individui a spargere allarmi ingiustificati?

Possiamo datare con una buona approssimazione, l’inizio di questa “fobia” al 1998 circa. Di tutto rispetto chi ha dato il via a tutta una serie di supposizioni mai avallate, mai provate, anzi, smentite. Andrew Wakefield un medico inglese che pubblicò nel 1998 un articolo (1) su Lancet, il più importante e prestigioso testo medico al mondo.

Egli eseguì 12 biopsie tramite colonscopia (uno strumento che visualizza le pareti del colon, una parte dell’intestino e preleva per delle analisi, del tessuto) su bambini con disturbi intestinali e del comportamento, 10 dei quali erano autistici (affetti da autismo, una patologia ancora oggi non del tutto conosciuta, che è caratterizzata da vari gradi di disturbo del comportamento e dello sviluppo neurologico). In questi piccoli pazienti, trovò dei segni di infiammazione intestinale. I genitori di 8 di questi bambini dichiararono che i loro figli avevano sviluppato tutti i loro sintomi, dopo la vaccinazione trivalente per morbillo, parotite e rosolia (MPR).
La ricerca pubblicata sulla nota rivista, parlava chiaro: era dichiarato espressamente che non era stato dimostrato un legame tra le vaccinazioni ed i sintomi di quei bambini, servivano altri approfondimenti.

Nonostante questo il dottor Wakefield organizzò una conferenza stampa dichiarando che il legame autismo-vaccini era probabile e consigliava di sospendere ogni vaccinazione per MPR. In alternativa consigliava vaccinazioni separate per ogni patologia (e non quindi quella trivalente, unica a valida per le tre malattie) a distanza di un anno da una vaccinazione all’altra. Non esistevano formulazioni singole (per ogni vaccinazione) del prodotto, così in un solo colpo Wakefield ebbe la “geniale” idea di spargere il terrore tra i genitori inglesi. In pratica secondo lo scienziato le vaccinazioni erano da sospendere.

Lo studio di Wakefield, purtroppo troppo tardi, fu revisionato e si scoprì che non erano stati utilizzati dei casi di controllo. Il medico cioè non fece un confronto tra biopsie intestinali di bambini autistici e biopsie di bambini senza malattia, non comparò bambini vaccinati ed altri non vaccinati, ma giunse ad una conclusione personale: il virus del morbillo danneggia la parete intestinale (come dimostravano i suoi studi, che però si fermavano in questa fase), questo danno faceva produrre all’intestino una certa proteina e questa proteina, giungendo al cervello, causava l’autismo. Ha tratto insomma delle conclusioni, senza controllarle e dimostrarle.

Wakefield negli anni successivi pubblicò altri studi non proprio limpidi, per esempio ipotizzò che il virus del morbillo (ed anche il vaccino) causasse il Morbo di Chron (una malattia intestinale molto invalidante), affermando di aver rinvenuto il virus del morbillo nei tessuti dei malati di Chron. Alcuni studiosi vollero ripetere i suoi esperimenti ma non riuscirono mai a riprodurli e nessuno riuscì mai a rinvenire il virus nei tessuti di questo tipo di pazienti. Smentito da una serie di studi successivi, Wakefield ammise che il suo fu un abbaglio e pubblicò uno studio apposta (2).

Non sazio nel 2002 ci riprovò. Un altro studio coordinato da lui e che ricalcava il primo, “dimostrava” che in bambini con disturbi del comportamento e problemi intestinali presentavano il virus del morbillo nei tessuti intestinali.
Un assistente di Wakefield presente alle procedure dichiarò però che durante i test sui tessuti intestinali tutti i test davano risultati negativi mentre Wakefield dichiarava il contrario. Lo scienziato, consapevole del rischio di veder crollare le sue illazioni affidò quei test ad un suo laboratorio (Unigenetics labs, lo stesso che aveva compiuto le analisi del primo lavoro, quello che diede inizio alla fobia sui vaccini nel 1998) che diede risposte, stranamente, totalmente diverse e che davano ragione al medico inglese. Per questa evidente irregolarità quell’assistente si dimise e chiese la rimozione del suo nome dallo studio che nel frattempo era stato pubblicato su Lancet.

Il danno era fatto: la voce che Wakefield non fosse proprio limpido ed onesto percorse i corridoi di diverse università ed arrivò pure all’estero nei paesi dove risiedevano gli altri studiosi che avevano sottoscritto la pubblicazione collaborando in qualche modo.
10 dei 12 coautori dello studio quindi chiesero di cancellare il proprio nome da quella ricerca. Lancet ritirò lo studio scusandosi con i lettori.
Altri studiosi tentarono di replicare le conclusioni di Wakefield: fallirono tutti. In compenso tante altre ricerche conclusero che non c’era evidenza del virus del morbillo in tessuti di affetti da autismo e nemmeno in affetti da Morbo di Chron.

La mistificazione di Wakefield fu così evidente.
L’ospedale nel quale lavorava lo licenziò, i media provarono a “recuperare” il danno che quel medico aveva fatto alla loro comunità (e soprattutto ai loro bambini), la giustizia britannica si occupò del caso e Wakefield fu processato per colpa medica.
Ma quello era solo l’inizio.
Le indagini scoprirono qualcosa di insospettabile.

Mai dichiarato da Wakefield venne appurato che un rappresentante di famiglie di bambini autistici, era un avvocato, aveva contattato il medico inglese per proporgli di effettuare degli studi che dimostrassero la correlazione tra autismo e vaccinazioni. Era un aggancio importante per quell’avvocato, stava per iniziare una causa contro le case produttrici del vaccino, per ottenere un risarcimento miliardario. Bisognava dimostrare che il vaccino per il morbillo causasse l’autismo.
Wakefield ricevette oltre 500.000 sterline per effettuare quello studio, proprio dall’avvocato. Avvenne una vera e propria organizzazione per il riciclaggio di tutto quel denaro, tramite società fittizie e compravendite fasulle.
Wakefield naturalmente smentì tutto ma un giornalista (Brian Deer) iniziò un’indagine intensissima che fu poi mandata alla TV inglese ed il medico fu costretto ad ammettere tutto, prima mentendo di nuovo sulla somma ricevuta e poi messo alle strette, ammettendola.

Incredibile come il grande complotto delle case farmaceutiche immaginato da chi ignora la realtà e da chi non è informato, si era trasformato in un complotto al contrario. Chi diceva di aver scoperto la verità era invece l’autore di una truffa colossale.

Ma non era abbastanza.
Andrew Wakefield giocò davvero sporco.

Si scoprì successivamente una mossa assolutamente inaspettata e subdola, il medico inglese aveva addirittura brevettato (UK patent application number 9711663.6, 6th June 1997) un sistema di produzione per i tre vaccini separati (e non trivalenti, cioè assieme nella stessa soluzione)(3), era questo il suo consiglio iniziale (ricordate?), non vaccinate i vostri bambini o fatelo con i vaccini separati: questi non erano in commercio, lui lo sapeva e si era preparato a venderli era tutto programmato…incredibile dove arriva la mente diabolica di certe persone.

Wakefield scherzò diverse volte sulle modalità di prelievo di sangue sui suoi pazienti che servivano allo studio (bambini anche di 5 anni). Raccontò egli stesso di suo figlio: attese la sera del suo compleanno (gli serviva un bambino di 5 anni, per le statistiche ed il figlio ne aveva 4) per fargli il prelievo, il bambino piangeva ed ebbe degli svenimenti, bastarono 5 sterline per calmarlo.

Il giornalista che indagò su di lui, scoprì altre falsità: bambini che avevano l’autismo PRIMA di vaccinarsi. Biopsie assolutamente normali che Wakefield classificò come patologiche, il laboratorio che effettuò le ricerche dei virus era del tutto inadatto, non attrezzato, non sicuro, non controllato, chiuse dopo pochi mesi dallo scandalo. E’ curioso osservare ancora una volta, che la gente che è convinta che i vaccini facciano male, alla fine non sono che vittime di un imbroglione cronico. Insomma, un guaio, che aveva provocato dei guai ancora più grossi. Diversi bambini ebbero gravi problemi (o morirono) per la sete di denaro di questa persona e furono inutili gli appelli delle autorità a non abbandonare le vaccinazioni.

Successivamente a quelle vicende per studiare l’ipotesi di Wakefield che aveva seminato il panico, nessuno studio e nessuna ricerca dimostrò una correlazione tra vaccini ed autismo, sempre smentita da tutti gli studi che sviscerarono in tutti i suoi aspetti il collegamento tra le due cose ed anche dall’evidenza. Una recente review ha confermato questa conclusione. I vaccini non causano l’autismo.
Nonostante questo, la voce circola ancora oggi.
Il disastro provocato da Wakefield fu enorme, spinto fondamentalmente dalla sete di denaro, non riuscì a salvare la sua integrità morale e procurò sofferenze inutili e morte a centinaia di persone. Wakefield fu pagato per mentire.

Eppure (ed io ci avrei scommesso) Andrew Wakefield è oggi uno dei più noti antivaccinisti britannici e può contare nel sostegno di centinaia di persone che credono ancora alle sue parole. Immaginatevi se al posto suo ci fosse stato uno scienziato “tradizionale” o se io avessi scritto a favore dei vaccini perchè pagato da un’industria produttrice, immaginate il linciaggio. Wakefield invece, presso i suoi sostenitori, non ha perso un briciolo di stima.
Incredibile? Chi legge questo blog non dovrebbe stupirsi più di tanto…

Fortunatamente però esistono ancora persone dotate di buon senso e di responsabilità e fa piacere che tra queste, vi siano tanti genitori di bambini autistici.
Cosa dire alla fine di questa storia apparentemente tanto irreale da sembrare un romanzo?
Ancora oggi si leggono affermazioni perentorie (anche da parte di medici!) come quella che i vaccini causino l’autismo o altre malattie. Ma chiedete le prove, i riferimenti: non li ha nessuno per il semplice motivo che non esistono. Al massimo vi linkeranno uno dei tanti siti catastrofisti.

Chiedete quindi a queste persone se sanno perchè il vaccino possa essere causa di malattie come l’autismo. Qualcuno vi risponderà che la causa è la presenza di mercurio nei vaccini (ma di questo parleremo la prossima volta).

Oltre alla storia di Wakefield infatti, negli anni sono nate altre leggende sulle vaccinazioni: presunta tossicità, presunto collegamento con malattie, presunto avvelenamento. In realtà non esiste un solo studio che dimostri tossicità o pericolosità dei vaccini. Non esiste prova o dimostrazione che i vaccini siano più pericolosi di quanto siano utili. La prova migliore? Resta sempre il fatto indiscutibile che miliardi di individui nel mondo, sono stati e sono sottoposti a vaccinazione…eppure il genere umano è ancora qui e non c’è nessuna strage di bambini e soprattutto l’uomo ha raggiunto una media di vita ed un livello di benessere fisico mai conosciuto nella sua storia evolutiva.

Chissà come mai, invece di dare la colpa alle auto, all’inquinamento o agli attentati all’ambiente che non ci salvano certo dalle malattie, è diventata un’abitudine attaccare i vaccini che, alla fine, hanno salvato una moltitudine di persone da malattie terribili e, se vogliamo proprio esagerare, forse hanno pure teoricamente salvato il genere umano dall’estinzione. Chissà perchè non esistono movimenti anticolesterolo nei cibi o contro la vendita di sigarette (eppure “qualche prova” che le sigarette facciano male o che il colesterolo riduca l’aspettativa di vita esiste).
Il dubbio è: sarà che questi movimenti hanno interessi economici esattamente identici a quelli che tanto criticano? Come mai questi movimenti ed i loro esponenti hanno tutti un’alternativa a pagamento ai vaccini ed ai supposti danni?

Le vicende di Wakefield, nel campo del terrorismo sanitario, sono comunque esplicative di come una voce allarmistica possa causare seri danni alla persona. Fatelo presente quando qualcuno vi parlerà in maniera terroristica di una medicina.

Voi ora sapete più di loro. Conoscete questa storia…

Bibliografia:

(1) Wakefield A.J., et al. 1998. “Ileal-Lymphoid-Nodular Hyperplasia, Non-Specific Colitis, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder in Children.” Lancet 351: 637:41.
(2) Chadwick N., et al. 1998. “Measles Virus RNA is Not Detected in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Using Hybrid Capture and Reverse Transcription Followed by the Polymerase Chain Reaction.” J Med Virol.,
(3) http://briandeer.com/wakefield/vaccine-patent.htm

Si ringraziano per i dati e la documentazione:

http://www.skeptic.com
Harriet Hall
http://briandeer.com/wakefield-deer.htm
http://briandeer.com/solved/solved.htm

COPIO-INCOLLO da Subecumene

This weekend’s plans include a hike in Gatineau Park. Given the unseasonably warm weather, it seems a natural (in other years, we might be snowshoeing by now!).

We’re planning to hike around Lac Philippe, then grab a bite to eat in the pretty town of Wakefield. In winter, the trail will become a snowshoeing trail, so we’re scoping it out for future reference.

Another old favourite trail — the punishing Wolf Trail — is a possibility.

It was a nice November 15th afternoon show at the Black Sheep Inn.
A CD Release show for Jill Zmud’s debut album “as we quietly drive by“.
It was a long time in the making for her to release a album of this prestige.
Which she got some help with Dave Draves.
Check out the video of the song East Of The Line live.

Also playing at the show were:
Kim Wempe and Carmel Mikol

Sheesham and Lotus

This was my third time seeing her.
The first was at Westfest and the second was when she opened up for Kyrie Kristmanson at the same venue.

Amanda Putz of CBC Radio 1’s Bandwidth did all the introduction for the three acts playing at the show.
Its a nice way to start off the set and let people know a quick detail of the artist.
The first act was Kim Wempe and Carmel Mikol.
Both are singers and decided to tour together and call it “Guess Who’s Driving? Tour”
They have been touring across Canada.
Their music is acoustic folk rock pop and it was a nice set to listen to.
Both are very talented musicians.

The next act was Sheesham and Lotus.
Their music had that old fashion style sound and even what they wore.
They liven up the audience and people were having a great time with their music.
I like the big horn that was placed in the middle.
They were a entertaining duo.

Jill Zmud was finally up on stage.

She was very excited to play for those that were in attendance at the show.
This time she had a backing back to help her play.
She had the drummer of Wide Mouth Mason play.
Dave Draves doing the keyboards.
The special guest was Jim Bryson who sang with her on East Of The Line.
Jill sang Precipice and Pilot Light on the Black Sheep piano and it was absolutely amazing to hear.
Overall it was a truely great set to see her play and finally have her CD released.
Jill was almost getting emotional while mentioning about the album being released.
She is a talented musician and you should get the album or see her live.

This isn’t the right time to be feeling so nihilistic all of a sudden, the past week as a been a hell of self-indulgence and binges on anything that has been going, six days in a row I have drank stupid amounts of drink and consumed little food compared to the things I am not brave enough to mention that has been facilitated by a outside member of our wasteful troupe of actors and writers and directors and artists within the institution that we call home – for now. We all know this is going to end in mourning, for advertisements on television warn of one in five contracting these such illnesses that cannot be cured and our affirmation into the lifestyle we have chosen does nothing but welcomes the maddening sick. A bottle of water by my side as I retell the story of the past week with guilt and a soft sad tone, no one is around now but me, the walls are a white wash stained yellow from the now dispersed smoke and outside the window the rain falls and its dark. The time is 13:46 as I write this and sun never rose to set but permanently stayed in bed for it feels how I do today.

Paranoia sweeps down except for the hours of seven in the morning until ten when I arrive for a lecture or if it has been cancelled that is when it begins. The use of the internet has made everything too easy, so instead of hard work routing through dictionaries and encyclopaedias and books on referencing the art you are making. The art I’m making is sparse, sporadic and just as self-indulgent as the debauchery. I am a selfish person. I have selfish wills and will do in fact close to anything to get what I desire at this point in time before the time counts down and the new year is upon us with great dissatisfaction to the previous year that has ended, now only existing in memory and digital images upon your Facebook page. The death student comes as a quick genocide every June. When thousands strip themselves of youth and enter a world unknowing and cruel, where time costs more than space, space is harder to find than that beautiful girl you once saw on a bus who flashed you a smile as you walked past her and had to double take because that smell of white chocolate and the glow of ethereal purity could only have been a momentary lapse, a déjà vu because she then goes onto resemble first love in its entirety – a sweet drop of sweat from the forehead during a summers morning embrace. These realizations left me without a hope for the future but more of a direct drive to find the hope to spur on the grand gesture of life outside of education – the journey into the wild cities where nights of talk with Mike about the evolution of beauty: the evolution of the peppered moth during the industrial revolution to adapt to the new changes in global discolouration to escape the advances of the great tit sums up how the in the ever changing public persona of myself must make a defining less gradual change of myself to escape the advances of becoming the deadly artist or actor or performer. The holiness of the moth being able to do this give faith in myself as a higher being (figuratively) to change to fit my surroundings in a social and political state, but isn’t this just the life of an actor anyway? I pretend to be someone else to escape my own inferiority within different circumstances of a show, taking upon a different set of idiosyncrasies to fit criteria handed down by the power above whoever that is.

This brings me onto my second point: The process I go through in order to perform is much like that of other artists I have read about but for obvious reasons not able to obtain first hand: I as a member of the human race have an hereditary emotional resonance with everything and nothing. Through my construction as twenty one year old male living in this time I can connect with things in my time and times past and imagine what a future self would do and using these as grounding to levitate myself into the shoes of a character, contorting to fit: bodily language, internal thoughts, given points in task as if I know to enter at this point and exit at this point. It is through the public task of audience to decipher my true function within the piece, where as within myself I only do as I am told and bringing the basic emotional gestures to show – like a dog doing tricks. This however does not deter from the work I create, for I create work out of a love of going through the ‘motions’ whether they be through a barrage of a task based study of theatre itself or an internalization of characters or caricatures who enter and exit with reasons and not presence.

So I conclude that life itself is a busy bustling one that must not be handled with care and too much thought because the thought itself is a saddening thing, it’s the face value tactic I approach with carefully with a hope that the next hand I shake would be full of love and the next set of daggers thrown are my own for practice. This all stems within weeks of thought upon how relationships change within the shadows for better or worse with the slightest of grievances aimed towards my relationship with performance itself. Yet writing never lets me down, I can say what ever I would desire and not feel the need to show off using concise grammar and spelling, without real respect for prose and more just the stream-of-conscious thoughts and feelings armed with spell check, coffee and an unmentionable. The words pour from my head like a tin of paint splattering onto a canvas just to drip off again due to a nonchalance way of looking at the art your creating the creating it itself is the art and the action the performance so with everything a performance or a piece of art is it then devalued? Same with relationships with people: if every one is free willed to do what they want, talk to who they would like does that then devalue an already outstanding relationship with another person if the relationship intertwines like every song you have ever listened to sound tracking your life on shuffle? My experiences are now shaved nerve endings filling my eyes with that sharp bite of pain you get reminiscent to tooth ache. Bah.

Veterans Day 2009 in Wakefield, Massachusetts

As featured speaker at yesterday’s Veterans’ Day exercises, US Army veteran Sam Stella delivered his remarks in an auditorium lined with the photographs of Wakefield soldiers who died in battles fought in distant places long ago. He focused his comments on the roles that United States servicemen and women played in World War I and World War II.

“They did what they were supposed to do,” Stella said of the veterans of both World Wars, “and that’s the reason why we’ve been able to continue in this country. When people get together and do things in unison, the job gets done.”

Stella is a Wakefield native who attended St. Joseph School and graduated from Wakefield High School in 1962. He is a Past Commander of the Cpl. Harry E. Nelson American Legion Post 63 of Wakefield. A Vietnam era veteran, Stella commended those who came out yesterday to participate in Veterans’ Day.

“You are here to take part in this function,” Stella said, “and it means so much to all veterans.”

American Legion Post 63 Commander Thomas Collins got yesterday’s Veterans’ Day program underway promptly at 11 a.m. in the auditorium at the Galvin Middle School, named for Wakefield native Gen. John Rogers Galvin.

After leading the Pledge of Allegiance, Collins introduced Rev. Glen Mortimer of Wakefield-Lynnfield Methodist Church for the Invocation. The National Anthem was sung by the Wakefield High School Chamber Singers.

In what has become a moving Veterans Day tradition, the WHS Wind Ensemble played “American Heroes: A Salute to the Armed Forces,” arranged by Carl Strommen under the direction of Thomas Bankert. The medley includes the themes from each branch of the armed forces: the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. As each theme song was played, veterans in attendance from that branch of the service stood to the applause of the crowd. The veterans had another chance to stand and be recognized later in the program when the Wakefield Choral Society sang its “Armed Forces Salute.”

Vietnam era veteran John Carney, the current chairman of the Board of Selectmen, spoke on behalf of the town. He first recognized his fellow board members in attendance: James Good, Betsy Sheeran, Patrick Glynn, Paul DiNocco, John Encarnacao and Albert Turco.

Carney talked about the disproportionately large percentage of military veterans, in particular Vietnam veterans, who are among the homeless population in the United States today.

“These numbers are telling and a somber reminder that the afflictions of war continue long after the conflicts have ended,” Carney said. “I implore our state legislature and Congressional delegation to right this wrong.” He called upon those in attendance to support the American Legion and other organizations that assist veterans in need.

Carney commended the work of the World War II Memorial Committee as they raise funds to replace the aging monument on the Common, and called for public support of their efforts. Carney also recognized soldiers in attendance from the 26th Yankee Brigade out of Camp Edwards who recently volunteered their time and effort performing repairs and refurbishing the World War II Monument in preparation for Veterans’ Day.

Robert Smith, Chief of Staff for Rep. Mark Falzone, reported that the state legislature had just passed a major increase in the Commonwealth’s commitment to benefits for veterans. “It is fitting that this should be done at a time when we honor our veterans,” Smith said.

Rep. Katherine Clark noted that her own sons and most of the students present at yesterday’s ceremony “only remember us as a nation at war.” She observed that many servicemen who have lost their lives were only a few years older than the high school students at yesterday’s observance.

“It is the young that we ask to defend our nation,” Clark stressed. “All of the veterans here made a very profound decision when they were young. They made a decision to serve their country, and if asked, would give their lives for our nation to protect our liberties. It is a very important decision, but one that is made quietly and without fanfare by our veterans.”

Following the Veterans’ Day exercises, members of the American Legion and town officials visited the World War II Monument on the Common along with the soldiers from Camp Edwards who performed the recent facelift and restoration of the memorial.

Lightwaves

It was with some trepidation that I decided to make a trip down to the CAMRA beer festival in the glorious Light Waves leisure centre in Wakefield.

Why trepidation? Well the fact that I hadn’t been to Lightwaves since sometime in the early 90s as a wee nipper didn’t help, nor my fairly strong memories of it being like an utterly improvised man’s Metrodome – which itself wasn’t all that. To me, Lightwaves means a crap leisure pool (only one slide? pah!) and unattractive changing rooms, and certainly not a venue for trying quality real ales.

But, go and I did, CAMRA membership card tight in hand, with the hope of enjoying a couple of decent half pints.

Alas, I made the mistake of going on the last day of the festival – a Saturday – by which point many of the beers I did want to try had already flown out of the barrels. This Jaipur IPA I keep hearing so much about passed me by, as did every single beer by relatively little-know Wakefield brewery Five Towns – all of which I’d heard were damn good.

I had five tokens for half pints (at £1.20 each) and damned if I was going to use them. So what to buy. Well, it’s not an easy choice to make. There were some 80-odd beers available (or not available if you go down on the last day) and while some tasting notes were great, others barely went further than “a golden session ale” or a “traditional best bitter”, which doesn’t really help when trying to make choices.

Fernandes (always a reliable and very local brewery) had a decent dark bitter by the name of Pikeman and Ilkley (I like drinking local beer) did a splendid caramel-flavoured, slightly spicy Darwin’s Tipple. Best of the bunch though was an imeprial stout from Barnsley’s Acorn brewery (which is normal reliable but unspectactular). While their Gorlovka may have required paying an extra 20p on top of the token (it being 6%) the rich, malty fruit stout was well worth that slight extra cost.

As is customary there was also a raffle and tombola, and as is customary I won nowt at either of them. I shan’t hold that against the festival though, and at least I now like Lightwaves just a little bit more.

New Years Day is an American rock band formed in 2005 in Anaheim, California.  The band was compiled after bassist Adam Lohrbach left his original band, HomeGrown  and met vocalist Ashley Costello and guitarist/keyboardist Keith Drover.  The three began rehearsing songs with lyrics that were heavily influenced by the members’ shared emotional experiences.  Lohrbach and Costello had both recently been though difficult break-ups and arranged their sound and lyrics around their situations.  The group soon added guitarist Mike Schodden  (formerly of Wakefield) and Drummer Russel Dixon and took the name New Years Day. 

The band primarily used the social networking website MySpace to promote themselves and due to their popularity they landed a spot on The MySpace Records Volume 1 CD. 

They were signed under TVT records, after declining an offer from Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy’s Decaydence Records Label. 

The band released first self-financed and self-produced debut album entitled “My Dear” in May 2007 featuring collaborations with Reel Big Fish and Motion City Soundtrack. 

Tracks on “My Dear” would serve as the perfect remedy for anyone dealing with a tough situation involving a lover.  The lyrics are easily identifiable and it is an easy listen from start to finish.  New Years Day  is one of the better female-fronted bands in this genre. 

Ashley Costello's "emo princess" stature has magnetted girls to her style.

This is their first video for their single:  “Ready, Aim, Misfire.“  This video won an award on the  MTVU “Freshman Face” poll and was added to the channel’s playlist.

Zara and their gorgeous dog.

On October the 28th I travelled to Wakefield to photograph Jill, Paul, Zara, Jordan.  I had a lovely day with this family, Zara and Jordan are such sweet children, and were brilliant fun to photograph.  We captured a huge variety of images inside and outside at their family home, we even included their rabbit, dog, and horse in a few shots!  The family were up for trying all sorts of different ideas, and I am so happy with the photographs we captured.  I only want to show a few of my favourites on here, so that the family have loads of surprises in store for the viewing in a few weeks.

“Thanks Jill, Paul, Zara and Jordan for being fabulous! see you soon ….”

Jedi training .....

Jordan, Paul, Jill & Zara

Fun times on the trampoline

Beautiful mummy Jill

A few black & Whites including the rabbit!

Zara's last photo of the day! chilling with her soft toys.

Jordan's favourite hobbie .. he's great at it too, and has trophies to prove it!

To see more portraits captured at clients homes, click here to visit the gallery

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Now, this weekend was a nice and relaxed one. Friday was another theatre directing session that gives me faith in knowing i made the right choice coming to the institution that currently houses myself and the other vagrant artists… a hot pot of wannabe’s of a variant of niches.

Working with Kane’s 4:48 psychosis and Zarrilli and LeCompt assortment of techniques, I was restored to a few years ago when working with a theatre company from back home, a nostalgic feeling of ‘I-know-what-I’m-doingness’. Even if i dont like the text, I fulfilled my duty to do it all to the best of my ability reminded me of a greek tragedy that i forget the name of which was performed in my first year of college over at Barnsley, after the first show two girls in a year above told me how much presence I had when I entered the space, I was reminded of that again as i stepped to the microphone to deliver a speech of this open text. I must still have presence, presence cannot be lost? Can presence be absence even if you once possessed it?

These questions were going through my head hours later as I met friends for drinks before a performance of Villa by Untill Thursdays: Oliver Bray which in my head was not only a satirical jab at Forced Entertainment and their (In my opinion) lack of change in form over the past years, and a nice new original piece about britishness, russia, loss and presence, for most of an hour the artist took control and with stability held everyone’s attention with a playful necessity. The message wasnt complete, or coherent but it was refreshing to see something unpretentious, yet clever, witty and sure of itself.

The confidence was one that reminded me of works long dead and buried, forgotten in a sea of the NEW – the search for a viable form where you cannot hide.

http://www.youtube.com/v/coxoEhQmjzY&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0×5d1719&color2=0xcd311b” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”480″ height=”385″>

Swimming to Cambodia by Spalding Gray.

Spalding Gray had a presence that was a nice refreshing change to the other work him and the Wooster group was performing at the time. It held a beat-generational story telling aesthetics – everything was simple, everything had a function and wasnt the big-collage of entertainment that you are being taught in the post-modern-theatrical event.

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On another note, I have been composing work up for my own event I’m hoping to showcase at the taster event EMBRYO at Studio Salford.

We performed there two years ago doing my short sketches Morning Smell & Nothingtolose featuring myself, Darren White and Gemma Salsubury and I cannot wait to get back in there.

Lately since the hiatus of performing (given a small one at that (2-3 months)) I feel should try and inform anyone whose been feeling down, uninspired and generally fatigued about making work as artists or just getting off your bottoms as actors – I know it’s hard to find inspiration during the poverty-stricken times, but wasnt the poverty and depression that created most of the art you hold special at the moment?

Also if you want to make work – make it. Its one area where running before you can crawl usually helps – fuck the baby steps – its head first territory!

SO here are a few more videos that have inspired me today, yesterday and tomorrow.

Franko B – I miss you

Aesop Rock – None Shall Pass

Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson- On Beckett

David Amram – On Kerouac’s Pull My Daisy with an excerpt of the original movie.

and finally

Buddy Wakefield with his poem Convenience Stores

Now maybe I’m just being self-indulgent and lazy there, showing everyone what i want to see…

but isnt that a point of most art?

I have my drive back, now I need my audience.

Next Wednesday, Nov. 11, Wakefield, Massachusetts observes Veterans Day with ceremonies beginning at 11 a.m. in the Galvin Middle School Auditorium.

While Memorial Day each spring focuses on honoring deceased veterans, Veterans Day is intended to honor and thank all US military personnel who served in all wars, particularly living veterans and those currently serving in the armed services. As such, it is fitting that Wakefield’s Veterans Day observance each year is held in the school named for Wakefield native John Rogers Galvin. General Galvin’s 44-year military career included two tours of duty in Vietnam, and he ended up as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe and Commander in Chief, United States European Command from 1987 to 1992.

Over the last few years, Veterans Day observances in Wakefield have been well-attended. Here’s hoping for a big turnout again this year. It is not one of those holidays observed on the nearest Monday in order to create a long weekend. Veterans Day is rooted in the armistice that ended World War I “on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.”

This year, Veterans Day falls on a Wednesday, and unfortunately it’s one of those holidays that not all employers grant to their workers. Some people exchange Veteran’s Day for the Friday after Thanksgiving, making for a long holiday weekend later in the month.

Even so, there are more than enough people in Wakefield who do have the day off to fill most of the Galvin auditorium’s 900 seats for an hour next Wednesday. Even those of us who are not veterans have parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles who served in the US military who deserve recognition and respect.

This year, there is another way to honor veterans. Making a donation to the World War II Memorial Committee in the name of a veteran of any war would be a great way to observe this Veterans Day and help replace the present decayed wooden memorial on the common.

Those wishing to make donations toward the new World War II Memorial should send them to: Town of Wakefield, c/o Town Administrator, William J. Lee Memorial Town Hall, 1 Lafayette St., Wakefield, MA 01880. Make checks payable to “Town of Wakefield World War II Memorial Fund.”

Some have suggested that holidays like Veterans Day glorify war. In fact, the opposite is the case. The day was originally called Armistice Day, commemorating the armistice or truce that ended World War I, optimistically dubbed “the War to end all wars.”

In officially proclaiming the holiday in 1926, the United States Congress observed that Nov. 11, 1918 “marked the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed;” and “It is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations.” Those are hardly words that glorify war. The name was changed from Armistice Day to Veterans Day in 1954, in order to include veterans of all wars.

Don’t think of Veterans Day observances as an occasion for somber speeches. While there is certainly a solemn aspect, veterans from Wakefield American Legion Post 63 put together a fine program each year.

Wakefield Veterans Day observances include performances by Wakefield High School’s award-winning musicians and by the Wakefield Choral Society. One of the most touching features of recent Veterans Day observances has been the playing of a medley including theme songs from each US military branch – the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. As each theme song is played, Wakefield veterans in attendance who served in that branch stand to the applause of the audience.

No matter how people feel about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Veterans’ Day should not be a referendum on policy, over which soldiers have no control. Veterans’ Day is a time for all patriotic Americans to set aside their political differences and join together in honoring our veterans and those on active duty.

It is, quite literally, the least we can do.

[This column originally appeared in the November 5, 2009 Wakefield Daily Item.]

Dear Absence of hope,

I’m writing to inform you I am feeling rather low today, I don’t feel like I should carry on. I feel as if I do not deserve it where as others do. This is not a feeling I am enjoying but it’s a feeling I now know too well. Why however should it be apparent in light of new developments that I should feel so low where it is you that has been betrayed by a foul that run a muck in the past few weeks? I feel as if I am somewhat to blame and have felt this all the while. It’s a running guilt as if I am the wrong do-er when I have only moved from either side of the bridge to the middle where we once all embraced life together. So here I sit in the centre as movements of the water still flow regardless of what is going on for we are not the centre of this universe even though the lack of apathy we hold towards each other is running dry we can make it past the darkness and what is darkness but an absence of light and light is the all knowing signifier of hope and hope is nothing but an aspiration in something of this world or otherworldly. I want to cry but have forgot how. I want to love one another again but am scared to. I need not to be told how to feel on a situation like this forbidden love affair that is happening though I should have a clear view of what the fuck it is. You are all too selfish to see what this is doing to US though your own tortuous soul will not let you. Fuck him, fuck you, and fuck her. Fuck lust, fuck love, fuck absence, fuck presence, forget the sadness and just leave with me into the sunset like in our favorite movies.

You are all in my heart, but with everyday it wrinkles with the poison of bad vibes and drink.

The truth is, I don’t handle change well.

I don’t handle the absence of our friendships well.

I miss the days when getting high was all we cared about, the final months are now closing in and on this November evening my soul tells me everything is wrong . We need to face up to the challenges are just stop running.

Love, Nate.

(This song and recent events Inspired this post)

fucking fed up of hearing akon and baseline when i go to gym so i’m putting these songs on a cd and they best play this instead!!!

On a whim my sister decided to join me for the Red Sox game on September 30, 2009. I had this game because Wakefield was scheduled to pitch and it was anticipated to be his last start given his back ailment

My sister and I hadn’t been to Fenway together in about 25 years. We had gone together when we were little kids and had one gone separately as we got older but this was the first time we been at Fenway Park together as adults. And since this was such a rarity for us we decided we were going to do it right and were able to get a great deal on Home Plate Pavilion Club seats. They were great seats.

We both felt like little kids again. It was a wonderful night at Fenway. I look forward to sharing the Fenway experience with my niece, my sister’s daughter who is 3 years old now.

We took the green line in from Riverside, walked down Landsdowne Street and entered at Gate C. Our first stop was the bleachers, we wanted to soak in the every view possible. After that we made our way around the concourse to Yawkey Way and the official team store. Nearing 6pm it was time to make our way to the door at 20 Yawkey Way, the private entrance for the EMC & Pavilion Clubs, and head inside. We made our way up two levels, via escalators, into the Pavilion Club dining room. A table by the window afforded us a great view of the field while we enjoyed a delicious dinner and the grounds crew readied the field for game time. We stepped outside to take in the view and take a few pictures before game time. When 7pm finally arrived we had wrapped up dinner and headed to our seats. Oh what a view we had.

The Red Sox were playing the Toronto Blue Jays. It was the day after the Sox clinched the Wild Card spot in the playoffs. Unfortunately we got the B squad as most of the regulars, with the exception of Big Papi, were given the night off. This was alright with us as we were just happy to be there and I was happy to see Wakefield pitch one last time this year. It quickly became obvious how much pain Wake was experiencing. He was moving very slowly and gingerly. He was only able to pitch 3 innings that night. And the Red Sox lost 12-0 that night. But we still went home happy as we spent a great night together enjoying one of my favorite things, taking in a ball game in Fenway Park.

In recent months, vaccine panic has arguably supplanted the eternal Evolution vs Creationism debate and global warming as the cause célèbre of the sceptical community. For those not au fait with the issue: there is a growing and increasingly vocal community of self-styled “anti-vaxxers” who have decided, in the face of overwhelming contradictory evidence, that vaccination programmes are a danger to health and long-term wellbeing, particularly of children. Opposition to vaccination ranges from mild trepidation, to the belief that mass vaccination is a systematic attempt at specicide by the “New World Order” to reduce global population. I’m not kidding.

The issue came to the fore with the publication by the now notorious (or heroic, I suppose, depending on which side of the needle you fall) Dr Andrew Wakefield of a paper in The Lancet purporting to have identified a possible connection between autism, bowel disease, and the MMR vaccination. The paper itself was unremarkable and inconclusive, but Wakefield’s subsequent interactions with the press, in which he advised caution against the MMR vaccine ignited a national health scare during which uptake dropped to as little as 61% in some parts of the UK and saw measles return to the UK as an endemic disease. Wakefield’s study has now been discredited and renounced by the majority of his co-authors, and the evidence that vaccination causes neither autism nor any other long-term health problem in anything other than negligible numbers is vast and overwhelming. Yet the controversy continues to be perpetuated.

In the last few days Wired magazine has published an excellent article by journalist Amy Wallace which tackles some of the frothing irrationality surrounding vaccination and its spurious link to autism. The article has inflicted upon Wallace a not insignificant and often unpleasant or indignant e-mail response, which she is currently tackling on her twitter. What’s interesting is that a large amount, if not all, of the negative feedback is coming from parents. Either the parents of young children, or the parents of children with autism. The protests are poignant:

“The PARENT knows their child more than anyone in the world. The PARENTS, Ms. Wallace, NOT Mr. Offit.”

“I have a Son that needs Me – not another needle.”

“Me and mine are not a herd. Human beings are capable and entitled to decide for themselves what to put in our bodies.”

These are parents who feel the need to defend themselves from the accusations of irresponsibility in their decision not to vaccinate. And the implied irresponsibility is sharp: Wallace’s article points out that, as vaccination uptake drops and herd immunity slips away from communities, children are now dying from preventable diseases. Often the accusations are explicit. As Jenny McCarthy, mother of an autistic child, crusades against vaccinations in the US, so a website has appeared, the controversial but pertinent Jenny McCarthy Body Count, which counts the number of cases of and deaths from diseases which, until the recent panic, had become little more than curiosities and links them explicitly to McCarthy’s high profile campaign. It’s little surprise that such indictments provoke fierce defence.

But the blame doesn’t lie at the feet of the parents. It doesn’t lie at the feet of Jenny McCarthy. Parents, by and large, cannot conceive of taking any action which will cause their child to come to harm. Charged by all their instincts to protect their child, the choice between “X causes immediate harm” and “X causes no immediate and direct harm”, when X is something they don’t fully understand, is a no-brainer. The consequences of ignoring the first appear direct and causal, the consequences of ignoring the second are far less cut and dried to the majority who understandably have little knowledge of epidemiology and immunology. In the light of the mountain of evidence demonstrating the safety of vaccines, this is not a rational approach, but is it really fair to point the finger at parents who act irrationally in the interests of the wellbeing of their children? I don’t think it is.

The complaints from parents, vilified by these remote and unapproachable journalists and scientists, that they “only want to do the best for their children” are deeply understandable. This motivation cannot be credibly denied. It’s the press that’s to blame for the current debacle; the press who published with neither appreciation of the facts nor care for the consequences; the press who give a voice to the charismatically irrational. The press made this the issue that it is and, where the wellbeing of children is concerned, that’s a beast that’s hard to get back into the box.