Let’s start with a cool comment I read early in the week. This is from Jeanette, aka mom26children.

I rest my very tired head, every night…I say my prayers and thank God for giving me the ability to be these children’s Mother. I thank God for the blessings I have received. I thank God for letting me be Outnumbered…because, through my husband and my children, I have been more blessed than I can ever have imagined.

One event for the week was the publicity for the “Stop Jenny” website. This was picked up by PZ Myers’ Pharyngula blog (a very well read, non-autism blog). Respectful Insolence (also high-volume, non-autism blog) plugged the site as well. In the autism-blog realm, this site (autismlibrary.org) and AutismVox noted StopJenny.com as well. A website with a similar mission, the non-generation-rescue-non-Jenny-McCarthy rescueangel.org gives a discussion how there are adverse events associated with biomed treatmements.

StopJenny has broken out, even beyond the ScienceBlogs (PZ Myers), into Bad Astronomy, via SkepticDad.

Another event for the week was the Every Child by Two call for action. ECBT has its membership asking for the Oprah Winfrey Show to take a look at vaccines and the vaccine/autism question from a different perspective than they’ve done with Jenny McCarthy. We joined in the call, as did LeftBrainRightBrain and I speak of dreams.

Fat Doctor picked it up from I speak of dreams. It is always interesting to see how some of the autism topics are playing out amongst the non-autism community. The comments there range from the usual “there’s antifreeze and aborted fetal tissue” inaccuracies to a comment like this fraction of a message sent to Oprah:

Please consider providing a counter-point. Physicians, scientists, public health workers and legislators are working together to improve the health of our communities. Please give them the same voice you gave Jenny McCarthy. Consider having the mothers of children who’ve died from these diseases *in the last year* on to show the human cost of poor immunization rates. Consider bringing in the parents of autistic children who haven’t been “cured” by Ms. McCarthy’s plan… parents who are frustrated at the diversion of precious Autism research funding to red herrings like vaccination & heavy-metal-toxicity.

On the flip side, Respectful Insolence makes a good argument that approaching Oprah to do a show on vaccines and autism is problematic. A good discussion and a good-ratings TV show are very different things. It is likely (and something promoted by many who support Jenny McCarthy) that Oprah might try to make it a debate rather than a discussion by bringing people like Jenny McCarthy and doctors like Dr. Jay Gordon to the show.

Jenny McCarthy has already shown the tendency to leave good manners (as in shouting obscenities) or accurate discussions behind her when the cameras are rolling (she might do the same without the cameras, but I have not been there to see it). A good example of this is her discussion of her son dying after vaccination. I will never downplay the experience she went through. But, her phrasing has led many to think (and state on the internet) that Jenny McCarthy’s son had his seizure immediately following an injection. Based on the story (that his first seizure happened at home as he was waking up), this seems incorrect. It’s a misperception that should be corrected, yet Ms. McCarthy has not, to my knowledge, taken the opportunity to do so.

One a better note, I have to admit that I am a sucker for a cool blog-post title. I got pulled in by Runman’s 1st Annual halloween Hustle 5km Fun-Run. I spotted this link, talking about the Road-ID bracelet. I’ve been meaning to talk about those, and add something to the main site as well, for a while.

Kathleen Seidel’s Neurodiversity.com weblog has a new post up. That blog has a low volume but high impact. The posts are detailed and thorough. This post has to do with another case of overcharging by lawyers and experts in the Vaccine Court. The title, A Motion to Conceal, tells a lot. For the first time, a petitioner asked that the lawyer’s and expert’s names be redacted from a decision.

ABC, through their news and Good Morning America shows, has started “On Call Plus Autism“. This is a series of short videos on various topics in autism.

It turns out Drive Mom Crazy will be a on “On Call Plus Autism”. Another hub blogger was featured in the Good Morning America hour on autism that we’ve discussed before.

I try to end on a lighter note. This week, it’s from LeftBrainRightBrain, who report that an autistic adult has taken to reading Autism’s False Prophets on YouTube. Here’s the “commercial” for “Story Time with Darwin”"