The rays, redux

Back in May, 2008 I wrote about some Texans wanting compensation for the "damage" done to them by invisible rays.

The rays are real, mind you. They're also known as "microwaves". They're utterly harmless, but they do exist.

Now some South Africans are demanding monetary recompense for their agony, caused by rays from a nearby microwave tower. As Boing Boing reports, they still want money, even though turning the tower off didn't help their symptoms at all.

What do you do when someone's brain is impervious to facts, anyway?

I'm religious, so I get to kill your children

Gothamist reports on a family who want their child admitted to a Catholic preschool, but who on religious grounds refuse to vaccinate her.

Let's be clear: if you don't vaccinate your child, it risks her life and health. What makes the school's policy totally correct is, unvaccinated children (and adults) also risk the lives of other people. The thing is, vaccines are not 100% effective. Say a particular flu vaccine is 80% effective in preventing recipients from getting the disease. If 95% of people get the vaccine, the virus cannot spread, because 0.95 x 0.8 = 76% of those exposed are immune[1]. If only 80% get vaccinated, only 64% of the population are immunized and the virus can spread--and kill people, even vaccinated people who fall into the unlucky 20%. Especially vulnerable are the very young and very old--such as the students at St. Margaret School.

Don't vaccinate, kill your neighbors. How very Christian of you, anonymous litigious parents.


[1]The math is somewhat more complicated because survivors of most diseases are immune, and also because flu viruses in particular mutate over time, so a particular vaccine becomes less effective. This is a reasonable overview, however.