Rogue Medica lays it on the line: “Wishful thinking is not an alternative to real medicine.”

The full, sad, pathetic story of the human cost of woo.

Counterknowledge should die. And that includes stupid “Christians” who think the world is 6000 years old. As bad as new-agers and anti-vaxxers.

Good comments too.

First up, the wonderfully irritable PZ Meyers has a suggestion for Oprah, regarding the odious anti-vax woman. I especially like the way he quotes Oprah’s missive in comic sans. He modestly quotes his in a simple serifed font, but maybe an olde Victorian Gothic script would be better. Dripping venom. That is only poisonous to the stupids.

Slate has a good swipe at Oprah regarding “bioidentical hormones”, Jenny McCarthey and the exceptionally stupid “The Secret”. It’s worth wading through the free pass rubbish to see what a literate kicking they give her.

Is it time for Oprah to step aside? Or ‘fess up and hire a team of fact-checkers instead.

Let’s say this again. It’s only a matter of time before a child is damaged or killed by the effects of measles.

In a perverse way, I’m looking forward to how the Daily Mail reports it. As long as the affected family is white, middle-class and in work of course.

I was about to ramble on in the usual way, but the little voice in my head said something particularly evil. I wonder how many of those children had the MMR vaccine deliberately withheld by their parents. And if one of those children dies or is severely damaged by an entirely preventable disease, whether those parents should be prosecuted for neglect or abuse or somesuch. Or would their hand-wringing angst be punishment enough?

Nah.

So we now live in a society where a Playboy model, hanging out with a tooth-curlingly awful Hollywood star gets a slot on TV under the auspices of the black, female[1] Jesus of our times.

One more time: the most powerful woman on American TV who can propel nonsense like “The Secret” to the top of the bestsellers list is now endorsing someone who wants children to get measles and all the complications  that may follow.

Just in case you’re in any doubt about the dangers of measles Roald Dahl lost a daughter to it.

[1] I was tempted to throw fat in as well and go with a Buddha metaphor but bottled out.

Note: this is nothing like being killed in the face by a bear.

Now even the Guardian classes are beginning to feel the pinch as immunisation falls below herd level and their children are in danger from measles and its consequences.

The man is an arse.

[1] I construe it. You can never tell, but with measles in London rising 20-fold in the last few years almost solely attributed to him, I’m happy to make the link.