I'd like to see a citation as well, but a quick check of http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/... has deaths due to measles in 2012 in the UK, and deaths due to contact with hornets, wasps and bees in 2012 in the UK, both equalling 1. Looks like we'd have to do further research, but it seems we shouldn't outright dismiss "bees vs measles" as impossible. :)

Seriously though? Speaking as someone who was born aspie, and had a bad reaction to one of my vaccinations, and managed to catch the measles (twice), chicken pox and rubella despite being vaccinated against all three, I'm still pro-vaccination (but _not_ to the extent of thinking "anti-vaxxers" should be prosecuted, that's a stupid knee-jerk reaction).

Vaccinations work in the sense that they provide _herd_ immunity. Your own personal vaccination is _not_ guaranteed to work, and yeah, there's _also_ a small chance it's going to suck and a smaller chance it's going to really suck, but vaccination is the _community_ version of "a stitch in time saves nine". A little pain now, or a lot more later.

We won't tell you how to educate your children, you just need to have proof that you've been using some form of acceptable education.

... I'm hoping that sentence was sarcastic.

Why should I trust polling figures produced by an organisation that is owned and run by the same government that is suppressing opposition media?

In Australia, at least as far I know, "punter" is slang for a customer (or likely customer) of a pub or betting place, e.g. "I watched the footy game with all the other punters", "I took a punt on the horses today". More broadly, also sometimes used as a substitute for "average joe" or "working class".

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/... lists some additional meanings. Seems to be of UK origin.

As an Aussie, I'll tell you that's bullshit. When your spooks are keeping it secret that they're doing an end-run around your Constitution by playing "let's swap" with our spooks, let alone lying under oath to your Congress about domestic surveillance programs, you bloody well do want to know what else they're up to abroad. "Trust, but verify" only works when you can actually trust them and you can actually verify them, and you can't do either. Your problem is you're too afraid to confront your government about it, and I can understand that, but that doesn't mean you get to demonise someone who has that courage.

And I'll remind you that treason is when you betray your country, not the bunch of slimy sociopaths taking turns to rule/loot it. Go ask your senator just how many of his or her Congressional colleagues actually read the full text of the Patriot Act bill before voting on it. Doesn't matter whether it was for or against, and I don't give a damn whether they had D or R after their name, just whether they actually read the thing before they voted on such an important piece of legislation. Then come back here and tell me if you really believe they're upholding their oath of office.

I love your country, but your government is all kinds of messed up.

Since you mention strategic reasons, do you think society's strategy of allowing confidentiality terms in civil suits are an overall good or harm for society as a whole, and (if it's easily explainable) why?

(I hope my wording isn't too awkward to convey what I'm trying to ask)

He was quite coldly rational about what he wanted? Really? I thought it was rather clearly established that his irrational actions contributed significantly to Germany losing in WW2.

And how does "X was insane" cultivate the field? Are you suggesting we view insanity as something desirable?

"Earth and its ecosystems – created by God's intelligent design and infinite power and sustained by His faithful providence – are robust, resilient, self-regulating, and self-correcting." -- Roy Spencer

Why do so many people fail to grok that their own religious reference frame specifically allows humanity to screw things up?

Um, just curious: if you don't believe, why are you self-censoring?

... wow. Really makes me think of Grey's Law: "any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice". Which state?

Just noticed someone else post that for misdemeanours they still discretion, but does that depend on jurisdiction?

Hmm. Please clarify: do they still have that right when the matter has reached a court and a judge has issued a warrant for the person to be arrested?

Or, you know, politicians could just admit outright that intelligence agencies spy on friend and foe alike, and that there are good reasons for it, rather than trying to pull "emperor's new clothes" and having it bite them.

You've missed the point. Pull your focus back from the NSA. Snowden isn't just whistleblowing on them, he's whistleblowing on the rot, and the rot extends to the entire Federal Government and it's fellow international governments, including mine.

I don't have a problem with intelligence agencies spying. That's what they're for. What I _do_ have a problem with is _governments_ pretending that their intelligence agencies never spy on anyone except evil villains, when that's quite frankly ludicrous.

The difference, if you think about it, is rather profound. Think about where this kind of "oh we'd never spy on our allies (except when we do)" bullshit leads - a lack of proper checks and balances, a lack of oversight in favour of rubberstamping, etc.

Yeah, but when was the last time a bunch of string physicists burnt someone at the stake or stoned them to death?