Certain sexually transmitted viruses cause cancer e.g. human papillomavirus. The HPV vaccine aims to reduce HPV rates and thus cervical cancer. There's also a link strong between HPV, oral cancer and oral sex but there's no plan to give males the HPV vaccine.

1.2 million people lost their ancestral homes when the Three Georges Dam flooded their lands and a 11 million lost their homes (and 170,000 were killed) when the Banqiao Dam collapsed in 1975. I still don't understand why most people disproportionately focus on nuclear.

A good observation, and one that can be extrapolated to future energy saving initiatives. When the world accepts the reality to global warming and fossil fuels start to run out, we can expect a harsh reduction in living standards as people in their homes (mainly) are asked (forced) to use less energy while the wider economy uses the same amount of energy, otherwise provoking a recession.

To put things in perspective, life style choices (poor diet, alcohol, smoking, overweight, lack of exercise, viruses etc.) & occupational exposures (e.g. hexavalent chromium, asbestos) cause 42% of cancers in the UK. However, the Center For Science In The Public Interest (CSPI) publication (that kicked all this off) claims 4-MeI might cause 0.008% of cancers (i.e. 8 times the Californian 1 in 100,000 action level) if everyone drank 12 fl oz of cola a day over 70 years.

If you take this seriously, you really should become an physically fit, teetotal, non-smoking, asexual vegetarian with an ideal BMI. Doing this could be as much as 5250 times more important that giving up cola.

Also, the predictions only work if the handful of very high dose animal experiments (that show carcinogenesis) are naively extrapolated to very low level human exposures... while assuming (without evidence) a strictly linear relationship between dose and cancer risk for 4-MeI i.e. a linear no-threshold response (LNT), ignoring other dose-risk relationships e.g. threshold (harmless) and hormesis (beneficial) responses at very low levels. Indeed, the CSPI admits that researchers are investigating if 4-MeI might reduce certain cancers by modifying hormones. Lastly, judging the toxicity of chemicals in humans from animal experiments is not straightforward, a massive dose of TCDD Dioxin kills lab rats stone dead but gives us humans a nasty case of acne (see Viktor Yushchenko). So all in all, just more evidence that people are rubbish at properly assessing risk when fear gets in the way.

Parkin et al., 2011. 16. The fraction of cancer attributable to lifestyle and environmental factors in the UK in 2010. Br J Cancer 105(S2), S77–S81.
Kaiser, J. 2003. HORMESIS: Sipping From a Poisoned Chalice. Science 302(5644), 376–379.

"But the Mauder minimum just happens to coincide really really well with the little ice age."

No it didn't, according to the University of Boulder paper the little ice age (LIA) began ~1275-1300 (Mann says is covered 1400 to 1700) and the Mauder minimum only spanned 1645 to 1715.

But I think you're right that the LIA was a false start of a new ice age, indeed the current Milankovitch cycle should be causing global cooling (not warming). Indeed, under such circumstances the climate might be especially sensitive to negative forcings such as volcanic eruptions. Recall, the Milankovitch cycle involves decreased melting of spring-summer ice i.e. it is an albedo feed back that enhances high latitude cooling that causes the ice ages. Volcanically forced increase in polar ice coverage could result in an albedo feed back during this current current

"We don't yet know what causes ice ages"

Milankovitch cycle causes ice ages, Oh, dear.

Mann, M.E., Zhang, Z., Rutherford, S., Bradley, R.S., Hughes, M.K., Shindell, D., Ammann, C., Faluvegi, G. & Ni, F. 2009. Global Signatures and Dynamical Origins of the Little Ice Age and Medieval Climate Anomaly. Science 326(5957), 1256 -1260

Hays, J.D., Imbrie, J. & Shackleton, N.J. 1976. Variations in the Earth’s Orbit: Pacemaker of the Ice Ages. Science 194(4270), 1121 -1132.

There's no evidence of a georeactor in the Earth's core. We know this by measuring the abundance of geoneutrinos - neutrinos generated by radioactive decay and nuclear fission. The KamLAND, Japan and Borexino, Italy discovered a ~50% deficit in geoneutrinos i.e. 22 of 44 TerraWatts of heat comes from radioactive decay. The rest is primordial, left over from the Earth's cataclysmic formation. If there was a georeactor there would have been an anomalous abundance in geoneutrinos (KamLAND detected fission neutrinos from nearby Japanese nuclear reactors).

The hypothesis of a georeactor, powered by a 16km diameter sphere of Uranium, was put forward by maverick scientist J. Marvin Herndon. He also believes the Earth is expanding and he rejects plate tectonics. Despite that, mainstream science did not ignore him but enthusiastically tested this georeactor theory.

Gando, A. et al., 2011. Partial radiogenic heat model for Earth revealed by geoneutrino measurements. Nature Geoscience 4(9), 647-651.

Table 7: Background Radiation in Denver: Average Annual Dose Equivalent of Ionizing Radiation and Risk

Radiation Exposure in Denver:
Radon 10.4 mSv/yr
Cosmic 0.50 mSv/yr
Terrestrial 0.46 mSv/yr
Internal 0.39 mSv/yr
sub-total 11.8 mSv/yr

References:
Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR V), National Research Council 1990. Health Effects of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation:BEIR V, Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press, 436p.
Sinclair, W.K., Adelstein, S.J., Carter, M.W., Harley, J.H. & Moeller, D.W. 1987. Report No. 093 - Ionizing Radiation Exposure of the Population of United States, Bethesda, Maryland: National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements, 85p.

The Japanese have a centralised dosimetry system developed by Chiyoda Technol Corporation, the GD-450 glass badge and FGD-650 reader/central computer server. It's used by the Japanese nuclear industry, hospitals, civilian background monitoring etc. For example, they handed out 230,000 glass badges to civilians last September, so the system can handle large numbers (ave. dose was 0.26 mSv over 3 months). Also, the badges contain an ID printed on the front and hidden inside, to prevent tampering. So it seems the Japanese do have a well organised centralised system to monitor worker doses.

Also, the IAEA released a Fukushima Daiichi status report on 2 November 2011, it contains a table of worker exposures (table 3). The highest doses in September, involved 7 workers who got 20-50 mSv (the ave. dose of 1047 workers was 1.8 mSv). I can't imagine gypsy workers could get substantially higher doses and in much greater numbers (unless they all falsify their glass badges and swim in the spent fuel pools). So I seriously doubt the article's allegations.

See: Fukushima Daiichi Status Report - 2 November 2011 - IAEA

The IAEA Status Report 2 November 2011 contains a table of worker exposures. In March 2011, 98 workers (out of 3742) received more than 100 mSv. But that was related to the initial disaster. By September 2011, 7 workers received between 20-50 mSv, the other 1039 workers received far less. The average dose to workers in September was only 1.80 mSv (people in Denver get 12 mSv a year).

Even if there are "hidden" unmeasured gypsy workers, their doses could not be highly in excess of permanent salaried workers, unless they go swimming the spent fuel pools. The radiation levels at Fukushima Daiichi is now far lower then it was in March, so it's very hard to accumulate high doses unless you enter the reactor buildings. It's likely those few who enter the reactors are the trained staff conducting surveys and they well monitored.

The Japanese introduced the GD-450 (glass badge) radiation dosimeter about 10 years ago, it's manufactured by Chiyoda Technol Corporation and is used throughout Japan's nuclear industry and hospitals etc. Dosimetry measurements are, from what I read, uploaded to a central computer (FGD-650 reader and server computer system). The badges contain the users ID printed on two stickers, one on the front and another on metal frame hidden inside the badge, presumably to prevent tampering.

They handed out 230,000 glass badges to civilians in Fukushima Provence last September, so clearly the centralised system can handle large numbers. For example, 36,767 glass badges handed out in Fukushima City revealed an average dose of 0.26 mSv over 3 months. I'm pretty sure this survey is run by the Japanese Ministry of Health, it would be easy to share the worker data if it's not already.

Refs:
The Large Scale Personal Monitoring Service Using The Latest Personal Monitor GLASS BADGE Norimichi Juto
IAEA Fukushima Daiichi Status Report 2 November 2011 (see table 3).

University of East Anglia scientists used Tree Rings to infer global temperatures for ca. 1000 years. However, beginning around 1950, tree rings show an erroneous global cooling trend. We know this "global cooling" is erroneous because weather stations show global warming is real. The phenomena is known as the "Divergence Problem". Concerned that the erroneous cooling trend would be misrepresented by climate skeptics, they hid the divergence problem by bolting on 50 years of weather station data to the end of the Tree Ring graph; this is the "trick" that was used to "to hide the decline".

Autism is not irrelevant. Cognitive style of autism can be positively used in employment, once a workplace understands autism's specific strengths. The most salient features are Weak Central Coherence and Need for Routine. If workplace adapts to the autistic cognitive style, everyone will benefit. There is too much focus on deficits rather then splinter skills and cognitive strengths.

Weak Central Coherence - means autistic people are detail obsessed, they observe smallest parts and elements of the environment, and construct the overall picture from individual parts. This is ideal for identifying and spotting anomalies in software, identifying mistakes, dealing with information. For example, it's been known for years that autistic people are far superior in locating hidden features in the Embedded Figures Test.

Need for Routine - repetitive and otherwise boring tasks are soothing, enjoyed and relaxing. Furthermore, attention is not lost nor mistakes made, when autistic person is engaged in repetitive tasks.

Dozens of identical/fraternal twin studies, initially carried out in the 70s, prove unquestionably that autism is up to 92% genetic. While it's been hard to point to specific genetic anomalies that cause it, it does not invalidate its genetic roots. The genetics of autism is more nuanced and complex than we realised, as are other inherited conditions, it's not genes but also involves e.g. copy number variations.

Bailey, A., Le Couteur, A., Gottesman, I., Bolton, P., Simonoff, E., Yuzda, E. & Rutter, M. 1995. Autism as a strongly genetic disorder: evidence from a British twin study. Psychological Medicine 25(1), 63-77.

Glessner, J.T., et al., 2009. Autism genome-wide copy number variation reveals ubiquitin and neuronal genes. Nature 459(7246), 569-573.