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UTI associate blogger Paul Fidalgo is an actor, musician, and writer with a background in political media, communications, and research. He holds a master's degree in political management from George Washington University, and blogs on atheism in American culture. He blogs at Examiner.com as the DC Secularism Examiner, and maintains two blogs, Near Earth Object, a blog of several overlapping magisteria including political satire and his own musical work; and Bloc Raisonneur, specifically concerning atheists' precarious place in American politics and culture. Paul's music can be purchased for mere pennies at Amie St.

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UTI Associate blogger Rick Ulrey comes to UTI by way of the Marine Corps: "I'm 31 and I earn my living fixing computers. I served 6 years in the Marine Corps and consider myself a liberal libertarian with conservative leanings. I am a firm believer that the world would be a better place if people took responsibility for themselves and their actions. As you can see from the picture I love food. That's me eating a banana fritter in Australia with a nice cup of coffee. I love to cook and my other hobbies include hiking, camping, reading and on and offline gaming."

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UTI co-blogger and friend DarkSyde has this to say about himself: "I'm in my 40s, I work out a lot, I'm a personal trainer as a hobby, I've worked mainly as an investment advisor, stocks and bonds. I've done quite a bit of sky diving. I live a few miles from the Space Center in Florida. I have a strong background in math and physics and I'm an active advocate for Evolution in the Evolution vs. Creationism issue."

"Vaccine Court" Rejects Autism Claims

Submitted by Brent Rasmussen on February 12, 2009 - 11:33am.

In other news, Jenny McCarthy's head mysteriously explodes.

This is good news, folks!

[link] Vaccine Court: No Merit to Claims That Thimerosal in Vaccines Contributed to Autism
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Feb. 12, 2009 -- The federal "vaccine court" has rejected claims that either the measles/mumps/rubella vaccine or thimerosal in vaccines caused children's autism.

(Full story below the fold...)

The vaccine court -- shorthand for the Office of Special Masters of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims -- administers a system that since 1988 has overseen all claims for compensation due to injury from vaccinations.

Today's ruling is a major setback for the more than 5,000 cases in which families claim that the MMR vaccine, either alone or due to the mercury-based thimerosal preservative in the vaccine, caused a child's autism.

Lawyers for the families and Department of Health and Human Services (the defendant in the suit) agreed to argue three test cases. In these cases, the vaccine court agreed to decide whether there was sufficient evidence to blame vaccines for autism -- and whether to pay damages to the families.

The decision, in all three cases, is no. The court formally rejected arguments that either the MMR vaccine or thimerosal caused the children's autism.

Although huge amounts of scientific evidence were heard in the case, the vaccine court's decision is a legal ruling and not scientific proof.

Last March, federal officials said that a Georgia girl, Hannah Poling, was entitled to compensation from a federal vaccine injury fund because she developed autism-like symptoms after receiving childhood vaccines in 2000.

WebMD will be updating this story throughout the day as more information becomes available.

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