Poor Mojo's Newswire

Depending on your perspective, the Oath Keepers are either strident defenders of liberty or dangerous peddlers of paranoia. In the age of town halls, talk radio and tea parties, middle ground of opinion is hard to find. Launched in March by Las Vegan Stewart Rhodes, Oath Keepers bills itself as a nonpartisan group of current and retired law enforcement and military personnel who vow to fulfill their oaths to the Constitution. More specifically, the group's members, which number in the thousands, pledge to disobey orders they deem unlawful, including directives to disarm the American people and to blockade American cities. By refusing the latter order, the Oath Keepers hope to prevent cities from becoming "giant concentration camps," a scenario the 44-year-old Rhodes says he can envision happening in the coming years.

So what has this award-winning 58-year-old scientist done to elicit such venom? He boldly states — in speeches, in journal articles, and in his 2008 book Autism’s False Prophets — that vaccines do not cause autism or autoimmune disease or any of the other chronic conditions that have been blamed on them. He supports this assertion with meticulous evidence. And he calls to account those who promote bogus treatments for autism — treatments that he says not only don’t work but often cause harm. As a result, Offit has become the main target of a grassroots movement that opposes the systematic vaccination of children and the laws that require it. McCarthy, an actress and a former Playboy centerfold whose son has been diagnosed with autism, is the best-known leader of the movement, but she is joined by legions of well-organized supporters and sympathizers. This isn’t a religious dispute, like the debate over creationism and intelligent design. It’s a challenge to traditional science that crosses party, class, and religious lines. It is partly a reaction to Big Pharma’s blunders and PR missteps, from Vioxx to illegal marketing ploys, which have encouraged a distrust of experts. It is also, ironically, a product of the era of instant communication and easy access to information. The doubters and deniers are empowered by the Internet (online, nobody knows you’re not a doctor) and helped by the mainstream media, which has an interest in pumping up bad science to create a “debate” where there should be none.

(CNN) -- Three days after the world watched a giant balloon fly through the air and a tearful family express fears that their 6-year-old boy could be inside, authorities announced what millions already suspected: The whole thing was staged. The balloon is displayed at the sheriff's department in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Sunday. It was carried out by a couple who met "in acting school in Hollywood" and "put on a very good show for us," Sheriff Jim Alderden of Larimer County said Sunday. Authorities know there was "a conspiracy" between Richard and Mayumi Heene, he said. "It has been determined that this is a hoax," the sheriff said, adding police "believe we have evidence at this point that it was a publicity stunt" by the family in hopes of "better marketing themselves for a reality show at some point in the future."

One of the basic tenets of talking to children about traumatic events is that you should never lie to children. When you get found out, and you will get found out, they will have no reason to trust whatever you tell them next, and no reason to believe the comforting words you offer them when they're scared. Now add to that the fact that, in this situation, the Heene boys themselves were told to lie, and they watched their parents lie. Falcon, at six, is still at an age where reality and fantasy sometimes merge, and certainly where it's hard to determine what in the world is really dangerous and what is a remote possibility. How is he supposed to know whether to trust his parents and siblings now, when they've shown such a willingness to lie? How is he supposed to trust them to keep him safe, as all kids must, when they were so willing to use him to achieve their own aims? When they tell him there are no such thing as monsters, or whatever he might fear, why should he believe them? Is it any wonder this kid was throwing up on Friday? Is it any wonder the charges against his parents include contributing to the delinquency of a minor?