The Quiet life

IT Architect gadget geek Dad, just trying to take it easy

[ajbadger]

Took a walk around Derwent Dam in the Peaks near Sheffield. Derwent is the middle of the 3 dams on the river Derwent. It was famously used by 617 squadron to practice for the raids on the German dams. Even today it's amazing to look at the narrow valleys and wonder what it was like to fly a 4 engined bomber just feet above the water.

[ajbadger]

Another photo walk in my home town. Some interesting details that come to life at night.

[ajbadger]

Finally a break in our wet weather coincided with a day off. So the kids and I set off exploring the local area. It turns out spring is forcing its way through after all.

[ajbadger]

On a recent trip to London I found I was being accompanied by one of my sons toys dinosaurs, so I thought I would send back a few pictures showing what he got up to.

[ajbadger]

It's mid November and today is t-shirt weather for those who are just a little more hardy. The Autumn colours are looking great.

[ajbadger]

Interesting "vehicle" by work today.

[ajbadger]

Decaying industrial sites - Nature taking over

[ajbadger]

Autumn is starting to take hold. Taken on my walk into work this morning.

[ajbadger]

Photo Walk - Hidden Decaying Victorian Splendor

Having known there was a run down cemetery behind a set of rather impressive roman arches for many years today I took my camera and went to explore.

The Sheffield General Cemetery was one of the first commercial landscape cemeteries in Britain. Housing the resting place and monuments to many Victorian luminaries who built industrial Sheffield.

It was closed from general operation in the late 1970's, but remains relatively untouched but for the plant life that takes over.

Although close to the City Centre it is a haven for peace and quiet. The history and stores held within the stone, like any old grave yard, can only be wondered about.

[ajbadger]

Beautiful warm afternoon in the park. More late late summer than Autumn. Lots a con-trails crossing the sky.

[meineigenesblog]

[ajbadger]

A great afternoon out in the Great British Countryside watching the Red Arrows display over the Chatsworth Country Show. The vantage point form Baslow Edge meant that sometimes the aircraft were below. The locals seemed impressed too.

[ajbadger]

Had a great day out with the kids as part of their 6th birthday celebrations. YWP is quite small, but really easy to spend the day there looking at Lions, Tiger, Leopards, and getting close to Lemurs and Wallabies

[ajbadger]

Wish I was here...

I’ve been rationalising my photo collection. A big part of it are the trips I took with my wife (before kids) to Oahu, Hawaii.

A great place to visit even though it’s over 18 hours from here in the UK. The temperature is nearly constant all year round, it has a great mix of upscale americana mixed with desert island cool and quiet.

The vista of Diamond Head dominates Waikiki and Honolulu.

Waikiki beach is the bustling base for most who visit the island. In itself it’s a great place, but as soon as you break out and visit the North shore, the real Hawaii reveals itself.

Picture postcard perfect spots such are Lanikai Beach are often almost deserted. Many North shore beaches are during the summer months when the surf is almost non-existent.

During winter time, the temperatures stay almost the same, but the winds change and generate the amazing surf that is world famous

Couple all that time at the beach with amazing scenery in the interior and historic buildings, great people and and drink while the sun sets, it’s the perfect place for me.

[ajbadger]

Had a few hours to kill so tried out my new Ultra wide Lens.

[prosperclub]

The connection between vaccines and autism.

[formerly-known-by-that-one-name]

Oh god. Not this again. *sigh*

[finallyhaunted]

"Vaccines don’t cause autism. They cause demyelination, which eats the myelin sheath, paving the way for neural damage. THAT causes autism."

May not be word-for-word, mobile tumblr doesn’t let me look at the OP while typing my caption.

[diamondsdroog]

//cracks knuckles alright here we go i’m doing it anyway This is really long and I apologize. First off, I found out in my Infectious Disease course that the vaccine scare is a Real Thing for a Real Reason (TM). Back in ‘76 there was a flu outbreak in Fort Dix, New Jersey. A few recruits got sick and one recruit died, and after some short investigation they found out it was a new strain of swine flu that was highly infectious. So they made a vaccine. They made a lot of it. And they made it really fast. Flu vaccine is made in eggs. There were bad batches. And lots of people got sick, there were 500 cases of Guillian-Barre syndrome and 25 deaths. Back in 1976.  The reason they did everything really fast was because it was election season and it was all televised, so every time they asked a candidate questions, they brought up the Fort Dix outbreak. So the government was put under pressure by the people to do something fast. And they did, for the safety of the American Public. Unfortunately it backfired, and the handling of that disaster was positively awful.  So the people raised in that generation became mistrusting of vaccines. And passed that distrust on to their kids. Who are now growing up and having babies. And don’t trust vaccines. Any of them. Ever. Let’s look into some actual scientific studies about the relationship between vaccination and demyelination, as this post claims. Before I crank out sources completely tearing this fun little claim to shreds, let me talk about demyelination. If you’ve ever seen the movie Lorenzo’s Oil, or heard about ALD, you will know what myelin is. It’s a protective sheath around your nerve cells’ axons, or tails. It helps impulses travel faster. Without myelin, the symptoms that crop up are those of diseases like ALD, Guillian-Barre, Multiple Sclerosis, and other leukodystrophies. When myelin is broken down, it hinders motor function. It causes ataxia, types of paralysis, loss of coordination, weakness, and sensation. Some of those things overlap with autism. In children. When children present stereotypy, which is rapid repetitious motion. But children with autism also present in ways that completely contradicts demyelination symptoms, like compulsive behavior, extreme articulation (stacking, lining, ordering objects in ways that young children do not  usually present) and most importantly sensory overload. Sensory overload is important to autistic individuals. They are oversensitive to things that go unnoticed by non-autistic individuals. Like white noise and fluorescent lights and the room temperature. If the CNS or PNS are being broken down due to demyelination, there’s no way that the exact opposite symptoms could possibly occur. This argument is very silly! Moving on, citations that scientists have done investigating ‘vaccines’ in general to the demyelination process…. - Rubin, Micheal - Are Vaccines Safe after Guillian-Barre and Chronic INflammatory Demyelinating Neuropathy? — "Although patients with prior GBS or CIDP continue to experience pain and fatigue long after diagnosis, seasonal vaccination of these patients, particularly GBS, appears to carry a low risk of recurrence." -Karaali-Savrun, F. Et al - Hepatitis B vaccine related myelitis? - "Similar clinical and imaging presentation of myelitis following hepatitis B vaccination within a 1 year period with no other demonstrable clinical and laboratory evidence for any other disorder raise the probability of a causal link between these two events."  There are dozens of studies on the relation of vaccines to demyelinating diseases. You know what they all have in common? They’re studying patients who already have those diseases. They’re neuro-degenerative. They’re seeing if the vaccines cause a flare-up or re-occurrence in a disease they already have by exciting and aggravating the immune system. Not one study shows any connection between getting vaccinated and developing a demyelinating disease. Let’s talk about autism spectrum disorders. Why do parents think that getting vaccinated causes autism? It’s mostly because the presentation of an autistic individual can first be seen right after immunization. A baby gets immunized not right after birth, but a few months later, when their immune system can handle it and has the functionality to learn and develop long-term memory. And that’s around the time a baby starts moving, playing with toys, and reacting to the world around them in a way that adults can recognize. And people think in terms of short time spans, so cause and effect would lead them to believe the two are related when they’re not. There are multiple causes of ASDs that researchers know about, including genetic causes, environmental factors, and prenatal stress. It’s complicated and anyone who has any experience with ASDs know that there is no cut and dry, and it is not a disease, it is not an epidemic, and treating it as such is insulting and frankly uninformed.  There are studies investigating the relationship between mercury and aluminum in vaccines, used as preservatives. (Senef, S. Et al, Aluminum and Acetaminophen, Price, C. et al, Thimerosal from Vaccines)   There is a link in animals between ASD-like symptoms and inorganic mercury or aluminum buildup in the CNS. And you know what the vaccine companies did when those studies were created? They created vaccines that don’t include preservatives. At cost to them. That you can opt into if you are informed and concerned. Bottom lines: 1. Not getting your kid vaccinated is not only a risk to your kid, but to other kids they interact with and the entire community at large. Kids die from MMR. That’s the reason we have the vaccine.  2. Stop making grandiose claims about disorders that you clearly don’t understand. It’s insulting to people with those disorders, who feel persecuted. It’s insulting to the researchers and vaccine scientists who dedicate their lives and livelihoods to studying these things. And it’s insulting to yourself, because you can’t take the time to look up something you claim to feel so strongly about. Sorry this got long.

[ajbadger]

My daughter and the Eiffel Tower