Comments on: Obi Wan better watch his back

By: Dys

Dys — Mon, 28 May 2012 23:44:16 +0000

It’s been cursorily alluded to in previous comments, but it really is worth pointing out that as a direct result of that doctor’s actions, polio vaccination rates have already suffered.
He was in charge of administering a fake vaccination campaign to Pakistani children. Not only is that illegal, it’s also highly immoral. This is not surprising coming from the CIA, but I’m really not sure it’s appropriate subject matter for nerd humour.

Perhaps I’m just being oversensitive, but knowing what little I do about the story, the only thing the headline makes me feel is disgust.

By: Nigel Depledge

Nigel Depledge — Mon, 28 May 2012 08:53:02 +0000

Evan Berkowitz (1) said:

A friend of mine pointed out the parsing problem with the Bin Laden headline, and I directed him to

[URL omitted]

only to find that it was already on Wikipedia as an example!

Interestingly, one of the examples in that Wikipedia page is actually ungrammatical*. I wonder if they have a comments stream so I can go and nitpick.

* “The cotton clothing is made of grows in Mississippi” should be “The cotton of which clothing is made grows in Mississippi”. Lo! No more ambiguity.

By: Nigel Depledge

Nigel Depledge — Mon, 28 May 2012 08:49:01 +0000

Ed (27) said:

A doctor, i.e. a scientist,

Probably not, and certainly not necessarily. Quite a lot of doctors know little of science and the scientific method.

is imprisoned wrongfully

Wait, how do you know this?

and no doubt with great cruelty.

This is an assumption.

Unless, of course, you have some evidence to back it up . . . ?

And as for the snarky “Read the headline”, I guess imprisoning doctors and scientists is OK as long as they aren’t tortured?

It depends on what crimes they have committed.

By: David

David — Sat, 26 May 2012 18:01:52 +0000

I too fail to see the humor in this.
Let’s hope that the same Special Forces that he aided in the finding, and the ultimate capture, of Bin Laden, go in and spring him from jail. We owe him no less.
If we don’t help, it’ll be very difficult to recruit anyone to help us in our fight against terrorism.

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:00:45 +0000

I agree with Jose. Not funny. A doctor, i.e. a scientist, is imprisoned wrongfully and no doubt with great cruelty. And as for the snarky “Read the headline”, I guess imprisoning doctors and scientists is OK as long as they aren’t tortured?

By: SeanMcD

SeanMcD — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:17:39 +0000

@19 Jose Furtado
Not only is the Dr. in the Pakistani prison system now suffering what ever horrible fate people suffer there. This is a giant “I told you so” for all of the Islamic anti-vax nutters that were and I’m sure will be even louder in regards to doctors (foreign and local) that are there to do real good in these sorts of places.

By: JA

JA — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:27:27 +0000

From the Huffington Post – with minor modification
http://i.imgur.com/mWEog.jpg

By: Larry

Larry — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:09:32 +0000

Can’t he use his sonic screwdriver thingy to open the cell doors or, are they made of wood?

By: DG

DG — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:40:45 +0000

Now I wish I’d taken a pic of Sky News last night – I’d spotted the news ticker just as it read ‘…doctor who helped track bin laden’. No prizes for what the Christmas Special is about then!

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 25 May 2012 03:07:36 +0000

@19 Jose
Read the headline, it just says he was sentenced to prison, not that he was being tortured.