One night when I was in the Coalition DFAC in Tallil, I saw a re-broadcast of a Larry King Live program that showed me just how infuriatingly shallow CNN can be. I expect it from Fox News, but there on CNN was Larry King interviewing Jenny McCarthy about vaccines and autism.
With heartfelt sincerity and a winning smile and an utter lack of scientific training or evidence, McCarthy presented her case that vaccines caused her son's autism. On the 2nd half of the show, doctors from leading childrens hospitals explained in a very kind way that McCarthy had no evidence her beliefs. I remember thinking at the time that this is exactly why kids want to get on American Idol--celebrity makesd you an expert in EVERYTHING.
As those doctors found out, it is very hard to criticize the mother of an autistic child. But here is some very proper criticism: http://theweek.com/bullpen/column/203348/autism-and-the-madness-of-crowds
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Beautiful, Suggestive, and Not Quite Convincing: A review of The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth
Zoë Schlanger ’s The Light Eaters : How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth is an elegant...
-
Tasks, Conditions and Standards is how we learn to do everything in the Army. If you are assigned to be the machine gunner in a rifle squad... -
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day is, on the surface, a beautifully restrained novel about...
-
On 10 November 2003 the crew of Chinook helicopter Yankee 2-6 made this landing on a cliff in Afghanistan. Artist Larry Selman i...
No comments:
Post a Comment