Monday, July 21, 2008

Introducing: JackeHammer's "Bullwinkle" Award

Since this is the first "Bullwinkle" Award JackeHammer has issued I want to explain from whence the term Bullwinkle comes. I'm not referring to the moose.

Furniture Factory Outlet in Springfield used to have a couple who did their commercial spots. "Earl" passed away some years ago but my favorite Earl and Edna commercial was the one in which they were behind some kind of hill, presumably in a flower garden and, I think Edna, had some gardening tools in hand. Earl, who always had trouble with names and the English language and got words confused, identified some unseen flowers as "bullwinkles." He might have meant periwinkles, who knows?

Anyway, my first Bullwinkle Award goes to Michael Savage for inadvertantly raising autism awareness. A lot of folks have spent a great deal of time discussing autism due to some controversial remarks Savage recently made on his nationally syndicated radio program, "The Savage Nation." Many of these people might not have had an opportunity to raise the issue in a public forum if not for Savage's insensitive comments.

The News-Leader has their roses and thorns. I want to stay as positive as possible, here at JackeHammer, so I only have my "bullwinkles."

Related: Apparently, much of this debate was spawned due to a research paper from 2006, written by Paul T. Shattuck, PhD of the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin: "The Contribution of Diagnostic Substitution to the Growing Administrative Prevalence of Autism in US Special Education

More: An erratum has been published to the above Shattuck, PhD study, in the interest of disclosure I thought the link should be posted here.

More related: RealClearPolitics - Thomas Sowell - Crusades Versus Caution

38 comments:

tom said...

How dare Dr. Paul disagree or shed some light on something which isn't covered in the mainstream

Anonymous said...

Those who know "exactly what has happened to 500,000 American children since 1990, have to keep the "Autism mystery" going on and on and on, for as long as possible.

from the link below....

“A memo from Merck & Co. shows that, nearly a decade before the first public disclosure, senior executives were concerned that infants were getting an elevated dose of mercury in vaccinations containing a widely used sterilizing agent.

“The March 1991 memo, obtained by The Times, said that 6-month-old children who received their shots on schedule would get a mercury dose up to 87 times higher than guidelines for the maximum daily consumption of mercury from fish.


http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/04/olmsted-on-au-1.html#more

cj

Anonymous said...

more information from the same link...

Of course, Merck says that it in all these cases, they’ve done nothing wrong, even though
Vioxx is off the market for good (and the subject of a $5 billion settlement agreement by Merck),

ProQuad is suspended and de-recommended, and the
government asked in 1999 that manufacturers remove thimerosal from vaccines as soon as possible, citing exactly the risk from that Merck memo written in 1991.

tom said...

such blaspheme coming from an unknown source. ROFLMAO !!!!!

We MUST COMPLY to those that which profess to have the knowledge or the truth of an event and the people that believe ADD, ADHD, adult ADD/ADHD and autism along with a host of other "mental conditions" shall be the arbiter of TRUTH

tom said...

Listened to Savage tonight for the first time in a long time and just as I had figured the lunatic fringe of a group known as the parents of children diagnosed with autism went way overboard on there screaming for Savage's head.
I wonder how long it will be until these fringe lunatics, including those here locally, are going to issue an official apology to Mr. Savage. Not that it will happen mind you but to draw a comparison I see parents with autistic children much in line with those that would believe "global warming" is a foregone conclusion. Those that disagree need not open there mouth.
I guess Savage has some pretty good research backing up his opinion, and should be commended for bringing to light what many of us have been saying for years. The medical establishment and the pharma companies can CREATE an epidemic which will garner more federal dollars in research and thus become a household word designed to make open minded people become very hesitant when they open their mouths

Jason said...

Tom, the fringe lunatic here is you.

Jackie Melton said...

Try to keep it civil. Tom did not single anyone out personally.

I think there's room for discussion.

Obviously, no one has all the answers and being open minded is usually considered a good thing.

Jason said...

Room for discussion?

Please tell us what autistic children you have that give you ANY insight into this issue.

Anonymous said...

What? first Jason lets VDJ, his archnemisis, leave a comment on his blog.

Then Jason leaves a comment on the Jackehammer, his other archnemisis.

Is Jason mellowing since he got married?

Next thing you know he will be eating Philadelphia cheesesteaks again at DiGiacinto’s.

Or maybe it is the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Jackie Melton said...

Jason, I haven't claimed any insight into the issue.

All I asked is that the discussion be kept civil. I don't think that's too much to ask.

tom said...

Actually Jackie in this day and age being open minded and requesting more answers from the mainstream is the lunatic fringe and I'm quite happy to be in with a very select group of common sense, intelligent individuals which can and do THINK for themselves.

I've never fallen into the group think mentality unless one considers liberty, freedom, and constitutional government as group think. I don't think it is since so few of us are willing to do away with as much unconstitutional government as is necessary to bring back our representative republic.

I could point out how the fringe and those deemed on the cutting edge of societal evolution are found out to be more correct then they are wrong. The fringe points out how things like "global warming" and those with that mindset continue to go off the deep end in offering suggestions on how to correct something which hasn't been proven to occur yet.

I believe Savage points out in numerous areas where autism "the all encompassing mental condition of the decade" has been being used and how fraud has run amok within the medical community to solve a mass problem which doesn't exist in the numbers that are being shoved down our throats on a daily basis.

Anyone that has half a clue can look at autisms own web site and determine with the wide open variety of conditions known to be diagnosed as such lends to huge over diagnosis. The medical establishment gets HUGE grants from private sources and government sources to solve a problem which has no set variables, this leads to the kind of fraud that is prevalent in todays mediscam programs.

If people want to hide their heads in the sand and only look at one side of every issue they are welcome to do so, however they should do it on all issues and not just the one there connected to. I'm not saying who has and who hasn't the real problem known as autism, my point is that many have been led astray in the medical diagnosis and instead of questioning or researching options available to them they stay the course be damned if any info is available that could help them out no matter what the source.

I myself have a medical condition which hasn't been solved by pharma or medical practitioners and yet millions of people worldwide have this problem, and yet we have no support group or any lobbying group to do out bidding in terms of government funds to solve this sometimes debilitating problem. Based on the side effects of most synthetic drugs I'm not sure I would take them anyway I'm probably better off trying more home remedies.

I'll jump off my soapbox but I was quite glad to see Savage take this on immediately and to show that what has been said can always be twisted into another arena of completely unrelated ideas. I guess I will now listen to him more often in show of support and purchase items from his sponsors

Jason said...

Really? Civil? Let's look at the "civil" discussion and where you chose to come in to ask for "civil" discussion.

You gave a free pass to Tom Martz who is calling the parents of autistic children "lunatic fringe" when they get upset someone calls their children idiots.

When someone says he's the lunatic fringe for his position denying all the evidence about autism, you jump in and protect him.

So your idea of civil discussion is calling the parents of autistic children the "lunatic fringe" but people who deny scientific proof cannot dare be called the same thing.

Jackie Melton said...

Jason,

Obviously, you are looking for a fight and want to engage me in one based on your assumptions rather than on the words Tom or I have actually written.

I can tell you, I'm simply not interested in such an exchange.

A "civil" discussion, in my opinion, involves asking a person what they meant by a comment rather than jumping to conclusions based on assumption.

tom said...

I guess in order to discuss an issue one must have insight by way of a relative or else your opinions don't count for much.

Perhaps that should be a standing rule for everyone, if you have never been in the military you can't discuss it since you just don't know what you think you know or have an opinion on.

Only Ford owners can talk about Ford vehicles same goes for every other manufacturer. People who never sat in the cockpit of a race car should not discuss racing..... and the list could go on.

As for having a child with autism I would compare Michael's first five years with any child currently be diagnosed with autism for comparison. The difference is we weren't having any of the doctors diagnosis and sought out help immediately to rectify a situation which could've gotten completely out of our control. Did we get lucky ?? Probably so, but it was a chance that we had to go with in terms of making sure Michael led a normal as life as possible.

tom said...

"When someone says he's the lunatic fringe for his position denying all the evidence about autism, you jump in and protect him".

I guess only your evidence is admissible

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MzBlNzIzZmE4OTcyOWE0ZGRhMTFjNmMzNDJiMzhhNjU=

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2007/11/14/crusades_versus_caution_part_ii

http://autismhysteria.blogspot.com/

http://edition.cnn.com/HEALTH/blogs/paging.dr.gupta/2007/04/expanding-base-for-autism-research.html

This should get you enough to read in the mean time, I've already read much of what is listed in the mainstream autism publications

Jason said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jason said...

Reposting to make it a little clearer:

Not looking to pick a fight at all Jackie. Just pointing out an inconsistency in that you didn't call for civil discussion when Tom was calling the parents of autistic children lunatics but did when I called him exactly what he called me and other parents like me.

Now, you may want to try and spin that but you cannot reasonably say that his comments were not aimed at myself and other parents who spoke out on this issue regarding Savage.

Jackie Melton said...

Jason, you ASSUME things about what Tom has written, that has the effect of shutting down "civil" debate, as far as I am concerned.

I did not take away what you took away from what Tom wrote but I'm not going to presume to know exactly what Tom meant, as you have done. Instead, I would allow Tom a platform to speak for himself.

My point was that he did not single anyone out personally.

If you choose to identify my words as spinning, as not honest, then that's up to you. I have no control over what you think about me, Jason.

I wanted to offer some other information to my readers and I did so in my original entry. It wasn't my intention to get involved in a detailed debate and take any sides on this issue at all. I am too busy for that. I just thought my readers might find the information I posted of interest and felt it was deserving of consideration.

All I asked is for discussion to be kept civil. That is ALL I asked.

I think you want to make this about my opinion. I don't have a firm opinion on this issue.

tom said...

Jason,

Perhaps had I named you like you did me, Jackie would've told me the very same, but since I didn't mention any names at all it was a generalization of a certain group of people that take things way out of context. Just like Savage said that 90% of autism cases are made up you went on the defensive and demanded a retraction from all concerned here on the local end.
Of course NO parent believes there child is in the 90% category which there again leads to a medical profession which is completely out of control with diagnosing autism.

Most people who have kids in sports believe it is there child that will be the next pro athlete even though the odds are clearly stacked against everyone of them except the extremely talented to which all parents believe there child falls into that category.

Just for one second did you ever have the consideration that the doctor was wrong ?? It does happen, Ive even heard where doctors have removed the wrong limb during an operation, these people are fallible and can and do make mistakes. I'm not aware of any doctor apologizing for a misdiagnoses since the case would end up in court in a heartbeat under the threat of litigation.

I don't know if autism really exist in Dale or if he happens to be delayed in his mannerisms, but I also wouldn't be absolute certain that the doctors are correct either. I would keep option open and when evidence is shown that is contrary to my belief I would study up on it not attack it.

tom said...

One other item I forgot to mention is there are actually people who will doctor shop until they get the diagnosis they are looking for just so they can say SEE I TOLD YOU SO !!!

These are the types of issues which jade the opinions of many and they have the odious to bring that information to the table. Meanwhile they will be slammed since that isn't the consensus of the mainstream.

can you say "GLOBAL WARMING"

Jason said...

Tom, someone calling your child an idiot is not taking anything out of context.

Jason said...

And Jackie, my point is that Tom is calling the parents of autistic children in this area who spoke out when their children were called idiots the "lunatic fringe."

Would you say that's being civil?

Jackie Melton said...

Jason, that isn't what Tom wrote and if you need clarification of what he wrote then I think you should ask him about that and not me. I cannot speak for him and wouldn't want to try.

tom said...

I didn't hear Savage say "Jason Wert your child is an idiot" I heard a huge generalization to which many take as being directed at them.

You take things to literal and your going to give yourself high blood pressure before you turn 45 if you can't just brush things off to the side.

Don't do that to yourself or your kids, they need a father to be around, and getting upset over trivial matters isn't beneficial to anyone.

remember sticks and stones...

tom said...

Jason,

I have already posted my answer to the last question of Jackie, so sorry it didn't meet your expectations for a reply that you still need to be hounding Jackie for an answer.

Józef Jan Hughes said...

Kids, kids, kids! I enjoy watching conservatives go at it as much as the next Daily Kos knee-jerk liberal does, but this is getting to be too much. Nobody's going to convince anyone else on this one.

Please don't make me and Al Gore come over and sing "Kumbaya" to y'all.

Anonymous said...

Glaxo Smith Kline is testing a pneumonia vaccine in Argentina. Twelve Argentinian children have died. The clinical trial continues, because everyone knows, a trial isn't a failure until at least two dozen children are dead. Six dozen if they are from poor families who have no recourse and desperately need the money paid for participation. From one of the GSK investigators:

"Only 12 have died throughout the country, which is a very low figure if we compare it with the deaths produced by respiratory illnesses caused by the pneumococcal bacteria," pediatrician Enrique Smith, one of the lead investigators, said.

In Santiago del Estero, one of the country's poorest provinces, the trials were authorized when Enrique's brother, Juan Carlos Smith, was provincial health minister.

According to pediatrician Ana Maria Marchese, who works at the children's hospital in the provincial capital where the studies are being conducted, "because they can't experiment in Europe or the United States, they come to do it in third-world countries."

Read the full article HERE.

http://www.ageofautism.com/

Momma Twoop said...

One sideline (sorta) issue that ties in with the exploding rates of autistic children is federal dollars given to schools. Schools receive more in the way of federal aid for those children attending who are labeled autistic and ADD/ADHD, whether the school institutes special measures for educating those diagnosed children or not. They, too, have an interest in this trend of increased child diagnoses continuing. It pays well.

Stu Solomon said...

I see now why only 6 people have read my blog in same number of days, hehe. Need to really get controversial.

"Lunatic fringe"? Really? How did that come up?

Such inflammatory and demeaning language is not necessary, but it sure gets people talking. At any rate, people with children who are autistic can hardly be called the "lunatic fringe" because they assert their dissenting opinnion from an idiot like Savage who opens his yap and all that garbage comes spilling out.

I believe there is SOME over-diagnosis of this condition, but absolutely DO NOT believe this nonsense about 99 percent of the diagnoses being "fake".

There isn't any point in getting personal, but don't base your dogmas on someone else's enemas. You'll be worse off for it.

PS Can one of you please email with the setting for displaying the "comments" on posts on my main page? All I seem to be able to do is provide a link to the comments.

tom said...

momma twoop,

surely you jest....the government school system reaps in benefits of more cash if the children in the school are diagnosed with a medical or mental condition.

This would then lead one to assume that the teachers, the medical profession and the government have a reason to inflate the numbers of those that could be determined as "challenged".. this sounds like some conspiracy theory fit for talk radio.....

But wait that did happen !!!

tom said...

Stu,

My favorite way to describe people that profess to know all, but clearly haven't done enough research to be dangerous is the "lunatic fringe" these are generally people who have become in numerous ways "univision" meaning they can't look at the flip side of the coin on their "pet project" topic for fear it might challenge their way of thinking.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you're describing libertarians, tom.

tom said...

if so at least libertarians accept that there are two sides of many issues except the constitution which can only be applied as written

Anonymous said...

what does
ROFLMAO
mean ?

thanx

tom said...

rolling on floor laughing my @$$ off

Anonymous said...

thanx again T,
IGINIASAI

Anonymous said...

Autism comment #37 from CBS news

JH might want to start a new thread...

sadly American children have been sold out to big pharma and their friends.... cj
**********************

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/25/cbsnews_investigates/main4296175.shtml

***********

(CBS) For years some parents and scientists have raised concerns about vaccine safety, including a possible link to autism and ADD. Many independent experts have sided with government officials and other scientists who say there's no possible connection. But how "independent" are they? CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson shares here's what she found.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They're some of the most trusted voices in the defense of vaccine safety: the American Academy of Pediatrics, Every Child By Two, and pediatrician Dr. Paul Offit.

But CBS News has found these three have something more in common - strong financial ties to the industry whose products they promote and defend.

The vaccine industry gives millions to the Academy of Pediatrics for conferences, grants, medical education classes and even helped build their headquarters. The totals are kept secret, but public documents reveal bits and pieces.


A $342,000 payment from Wyeth, maker of the pneumococcal vaccine - which makes $2 billion a year in sales.


A $433,000 contribution from Merck, the same year the academy endorsed Merck's HPV vaccine - which made $1.5 billion a year in sales.


Another top donor: Sanofi Aventis, maker of 17 vaccines and a new five-in-one combo shot just added to the childhood vaccine schedule last month.

Every Child By Two, a group that promotes early immunization for all children, admits the group takes money from the vaccine industry, too - but wouldn't tell us how much.

A spokesman told CBS News: "There are simply no conflicts to be unearthed." But guess who's listed as the group's treasurers? Officials from Wyeth and a paid advisor to big pharmaceutical clients.

Then there's Paul Offit, perhaps the most widely-quoted defender of vaccine safety.

He's gone so far as to say babies can tolerate "10,000 vaccines at once."

This is how Offit described himself in a previous interview: "I'm the chief of infectious disease at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a professor of pediatrics at Penn's medical school," he said.

Offit was not willing to be interviewed on this subject but like others in this CBS News investigation, he has strong industry ties. In fact, he's a vaccine industry insider.

Offit holds in a $1.5 million dollar research chair at Children's Hospital, funded by Merck. He holds the patent on an anti-diarrhea vaccine he developed with Merck, Rotateq, which has prevented thousands of hospitalizations.

And future royalties for the vaccine were just sold for $182 million cash. Dr. Offit's share of vaccine profits? Unknown.

Anonymous said...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/25/cbsnews_investigates/main4296175.shtml

a better link to comment #37 above

37 used to be my paper route number...cj