u/Rosewind2007

Back in March 2023 I started a meta about the use of the word “rogue” in the book series, starting with the novellas. It’s interesting to see how Murderbot’s concept of a rogue SecUnit has changed across the books, and also how the humans (and other intelligences) who encounter it also seem to reassess their attitudes.
I’ve created some graphs and some commentary.
I can either add a link or images, so this post has the link to the Archive of Our Own meta where you can find all the graphs.
Your friendly neighborhood [rogue] SecUnit
The** **link should take you to chapter 4/4 of the meta, with the Platform Decay update!
Comments and corrections welcomed (I previous managed to spell rogue “rouge” multiple times…)
📉📊📈

The latest on the awful anti-vaccine paper by Neil Z Miller (VAERS and SIDS) which was removed (not just retracted, removed) recently.

R F Kennedy Jr wrote an awful bullying letter to the journal which removed this execrable paper (which I called for the retraction of back when it was published).

So—Kennedy’s letter!

What I find amusing is that if you check Kennedy’s references they themselves are…subpar:

For one thing, in his letter to the journal, Kennedy claims that the Miller paper:
“cites an extensive literature on an association between sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and recent vaccinations, from 1933ii to 2014iii.“

Reference (ii) is from 1946, not 1933, and the paper discusses twins who died of anaphylactic shock following vaccinations. Anaphylaxis is NOT SIDS, which would have (in 1946) been called crib death: the term SIDS was coined in 1969.
The paper, published in JAMA, states:

“In view of the high mortality that accompanies both diphtheria and pertussis during infancy, it is hoped that the publication of a report of these two fatalities will not deter the profession from continuing to practice immunization. It will be recalled that the family history was positive for allergy; the father suffered from what appeared to be episodes of angioneurotic edema.”

So the paper itself is not about SIDS, is not a case from 1933, and is supportive of the importance of vaccination.

I’d additionally note that the 1946 paper itself has a citation which **does** date from 1933–it’s also not about SIDS:
it mentions six adult men dying of anaphylaxis (2), due to possibly exacerbated heart conditions (3) and one possibly from an infection after typhoid vaccination—I’ll pop more details in the comments.

Anyway—there’s more at Retraction Watch

Retraction Watch covers Kennedy’s attempt to bully the journal which removed Neil Z Miller’s paper.
“He calls for retractions of things he does not find ideologically convenient,” she told Retraction Watch. “And he objects to retractions he finds ideologically inconvenient.”

What I find amusing is that if you check Kennedy’s references they themselves are…subpar:
For one thing, in his letter to the journal, Kennedy wrote the Miller paper “cites an extensive literature on an *association between sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and recent vaccinations, from 1933ii to 2014iii*. Did the experts involved in investigating the Miller article also investigate those cited papers?” 

Reference (ii) is from 1946, not 1933, and the paper discusses twins who died of anaphylactic shock following vaccinations. Anaphylaxis is not SIDS, or crib death as such deaths would have likely been described in 1946… The paper, published in JAMA, states the author hopes the report of the two fatalities “will not deter the profession from continuing to practice immunization.”  
“So the paper itself is not about SIDS, is not a case from 1933, and is supportive of the importance of vaccination,”
I’d additionally note that the 1946 paper itself has a citation which *does* date from 1933–it’s also not about SIDS (it mentions six adult men dying of: anaphylaxis (2), due to possibly exacerbated heart conditions (3) and one from an infection after typhoid vaccination)…

Anyway—there’s more at Retraction Watch:

Hi there! I wanted to share some good news! On Thursday I was alerted by a poster on PubPeer that an utterly dreadful paper (which I had called to be retracted) by Neil Z Miller had finally been removed. When checking the impact of the paper, I found this reference to it here on Reddit —the thread can’t be updated so I am posting to let you know. The paper was: “Vaccines and sudden infant death: An analysis of the VAERS database 1990–2019 and review of the medical literature.” I won’t go into the many many reasons it deserved to be retracted (removed—burnt and the ashes buried at a crossroads at midnight with a stake through them—whatever…) BUT I am delighted to see it gone. Vaccines work, and vaccination has been sown to be associated with reduced risk of SIDS (for reasons). I have posted about the removal on BlueSky if people are interested, and hopefully Retraction Watch will post a story about it soon! I was delighted to see the advice given in the original thread here on Reddit, credit to you all! Cheers, Rosewind