What I am Reading Today 2/26/2014

No Vaccines Don't Cause Autism - In 1998, there was a groundbreaking study telling parents that their children were at risk of getting autism from vaccines. ... The only problem was that same study published in the Lancet was later retracted. Its author, Andrew Wakefield, was shown to have falsified data. His "science" proved to be fraudulent, and riddled with conflicts of interest. His research was so void of ethics that the British General Medical Council removed him from the medical registry and he's no longer allowed to practice medicine in the United Kingdom.

US Navy Ready To Deploy Laser For First Time - The Navy plans to deploy its first laser on a ship later this year, and it intends to test an electromagnetic rail gun prototype aboard a vessel within two years.

The Internet is Fucked - Massive companies like AT&T and Comcast have spent the first two months of 2014 boldly announcing plans to close and control the internet through additional fees, pay-to-play schemes, and sheer brutal size — all while the legal rules designed to protect against these kinds of abuses were struck down in court for basically making too much sense. “

Do Conservatives Keep falling In Love With Bad Boys in Politics - No quote here I am just going to answer:  Yes.  Or maybe more accurately we jump on a band wagon because Limbaugh or Beck tell us too without considering whether the person we are supporting a) is actually worth supporting (Scott Brown and Marco Rubio come to mind), and b) can actually win.  This is simplistic I know, there are a lot of things that go into a candidacy but I have a couple tests, 1) Do I agree with the basic tenets of their position, 2) Would I drink a beer with them, 3) Would I feel comfortable leaving my sister, mother or nieces and nephew alone in a room with them, and 4) How often do I find myself having to say "No, No, No, what he meant was"  If any one of those is a no (or in the case of the last one just a constant battle) I won't vote for them.  I may not vote for their opponent but I won't vote for them.  Unfortunately in the last 8 years there have been way too many conservative candidates that fail my test.