It's That Time o' Year

As the title says, it's that time of year again. Many holidays just happen to fall right around now: Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, Saturnalia, Festivus, Solstice and so on. Some of these involve the giving of gifts. Some do not. Some parts of the world lie covered in snow and ice (unless you happen to be in certain parts of New England this year and haven't seen any dusting of snow stick around...not that I'm bitter or anything). Some celebrate with a glass of wine in the sun. It also just happens to be the end of the tax year.

I brought this up a couple years ago and thought it could use a bit of a repeat.

Disease Burdens More Than Just the Patient

Often, when we talk about infectious diseases and outbreaks, the focus tends to be on those who got sick: the symptoms they experienced, how likely they might have been to infect others and so forth. We may talk about whether or not they were vaccinated, what complications they may have suffered and the costs that they bore through lost work/school days or how much treatment cost. Only occasionally do people think about the effects of an infection or outbreak on the government. After all, infections only have a direct impact on the person who has the disease and maybe those around them, right? How could a disease have any significant impact on a government. They're big, faceless things that just kind of exist in the background, except when there's a problem or it's election season.

The fact of the matter is, outbreaks of infectious disease actually have quite an impact on governments, particularly local ones. As just one example, I recently received the following from an anonymous reader:

'Tis the Season

Every December, there is something that is on a lot of people's minds. Of course, there's wintery weather, for those in cooler climes. Preparing for time with family ranks pretty high. For those of a religious persuasion, and even some who aren't, there are all the decorations to take care of, trees to set up and malls to visit. Lots of stuff going on.

But I'm not talking about any of those things. No, there is something else that figures prominently in many people's thoughts:

Charitable giving.

Doctor's Data Inc. Uses Legal Threats to Silence Criticism

I know the title of this blog is "Silenced by Age of Autism", but I have, in the past, spoken up in defense of free speech in other venues, as well, such as Simon Singh's libel case in the U.K. and how the English libel laws affect everyone. The need has arisen, once more, to venture away from AoA's censorship and talk about another recent attempt to us litigation to silence critics. Please bear with me, as this is a long post.

A Victory for Free Speech

Those interested in free speech and rational critique of ideas probably already know about Simon Singh's case in the U.K. Singh was sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association for some comments he made suggesting that the practices they promote are, well, bunk. An initial ruling by Justice David Eady appeared to be a major setback to Singh's case. However, he appealed and won the right to defend his comments as statements of opinion, rather than statements of fact.

Well, it appears the BCA has decided that it can no longer prevail and has dropped its libel suit against Singh. You can read more about this at Sense About Science.

While this is a major victory against the BCA's attempt to censor scientific criticism, the British libel laws are still in place. If you have not already done so, join the effort to revise the law to end the practice of using the legal system to censor critics. These laws don't just affect those living in the U.K.; they everyone, everywhere, thanks to libel tourism.

Big Libel Gig in the Skye

Okay, so it's in London's West End, not the Isle of Skye.  What, you may ask?  Why, The Big Libel Gig.  If you happen to be in the U.K. on March 14, you may want to consider getting tickets to this.  See the link for details and help support libel reform.

Censored on Words Fail Us: Mother Poisons Autistic Son with Bleach

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