In a move certain to disappoint gullible folks and malevolent frauds alike, the British medical journal Lancet has fully retracted a controversial study that linked childhood vaccinations to subsequent autism. Has it been 1998? Time flies, and that sadly resulted in many people around the world opting to bypass basic vaccinations for their children; as a result, children died—not just those who did not get the vaccine, but children who were vaccinated but suffered an evolved form of the disease passed on by a kid who was not vaccinated. Yep, that actually happens. And it is the same tragedy either way.

All of this malarkey that vaccinations and autism might be related was disproven a while back; unfortunately, the believers always go back to that infamous Lancet study. The reason for the delay in retraction is somewhat byzantine and still controversial, but finally did happen. The primary author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, has been mostly avoiding media spotlight since he was revealed to be a fraud who openly manipulated scientific data to pursue a personal belief. Have we heard this before? Yes, we have. But as always, jerks like this get caught.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.