May 23, 2005

• Hmmm. Hoax? If not, what the hell? Fountain of Youth, perhaps? Mmmmm, immortal baby blood...
• Dr. Lawrence Pakula seems pretty legit.
• I had seen this elsewhere; it sounded legit, but what they left out here is that the baby/kid has had some serious health problems (described in the Telegraph link); doesn't sound like a fountain of youth type thing.
• Snopes has lost all credibility, anyway.
• I gest not when I say this because I am fascinated by hypotheticals. Once this child (if this story is somewhat true) is the age beyond statutory rape, what would a state do with a sexual event involving the child?
• Snopes is a hoax.
• I wish I could get a kitten like this. Oh and this kid is going to have serious difficulty getting into bars when they turn 18/21.
• "Snopes has lost all credibility, anyway." "Snopes is a hoax." Please explain, did I miss out on something?
• "Snopes is a hoax." was my flippant reaction to "Snopes has lost all credibility, anyway." because I don't agree.
• I'd also like to know why Snopes has lost credibilty. They are so good for warding off the folks who send those stupid emails we all get from friends/relatives/business acquaintances. So, why can't I rely on them? And, if I can't, who will take their place?
• Seen it elsewhere, and from a legit source. Kid is seriously ill though.
• Based on my limited knowledge of recent Snopes controversies, where Snopes has passed on certain stories that certain people or groups would want them to publish (namely, those who seem to think that the place of Snopes is to publish all of the political dirty laundry from both sides everyone seems too keen on reading), they have therefore "lost credibility." Personally, I've yet to see where they have fabricated or deliberately obfuscated a story on their site. Editorial selectiveness (and severe bias is almost always easily picked out, right Fox News?) doesn't read to me as a loss of credibility.
• I worked in a hospital for retarded children back in the 60s. Among the anamolies there was a 9 year old boy who was the size of a 6 month old infant and who was pre-natal in mental development. There was nothing we could do for him except give him a bottle several time a day and change his diapers. Sad story, but not a big thing for conversation. So this girl is 12 and looks as though she's six months old? Again, sad, but where do we go from there?
• ...(namely, those who seem to think that the place of Snopes is to publish all of the political dirty laundry from both sides everyone seems too keen on reading), they have therefore "lost credibility." No, it's because they have a political bias.
• Correct.
• Interesting that I've seen a) socialists b) libertarians and c) bog standard US-style conservatives and liberals all accuse Snopes of political bias. Assertion is not evidence, and at the moment, I remain fantastically unconvinced.
• That's really nutty. I wonder if it actually could be possible to be immortal? Don't all the cells in your body get replentished regularly anyway? Also it seems like this could be a great opportunity to study the whole mind vs. brain thing. How would someone with all the memories of a full grown person but with a baby's brain be different? I wonder if she could be fluent in 100 languages. Anyway I hope she's ok.
• You guys got any actual evidence of this political bias? 'Cause I call bullshit.
• You guys got any actual evidence of this political bias? 'Cause I call bullshit. Here vs here.
• Dude, they've even admitted their politcal bias, with an apology, of course, and acknowledging that it's unprofessional of them. But I'll let you dig it up. Prove that this statement of your is true: Snopes has passed on certain stories that certain people or groups would want them to publish (namely, those who seem to think that the place of Snopes is to publish all of the political dirty laundry from both sides everyone seems too keen on reading), they have therefore "lost credibility." After you've done that, then I'll back my statements about snopes political bias. But if you're not willing to back up your ridiculous statement, I'm sure it'll be a waste of time to back up my factual one.
• "Based on my limited knowledge of recent Snopes controversies, where Snopes has passed on certain stories that certain people or groups would want them to publish....." So, Mr. Knickerbocker, my qualified explanation of my own anecdotal evidence somehow turned into an assertion on my part? I was asking for evidence based on the fact that it was, allow me to repeat: based on my limited knowledge. So my admission that I have incomplete data is a "ridiculous statement"? I cry foul, Mr. K. Point to ANYWHERE in my statement that I was making an unqualified assertion of certitude like you did. Is it really necessary for me to compare my QUALIFIED and ADMITTEDLY INCOMPLETE understanding versus your, now for the third time in this thread UNQUALIFIED and UNSUPPORTED ASSERTION? Do you care to participate, or d'you just like quoting me out of context in order to not answer my challenge, which for you remains: Personally, I've yet to see where they have fabricated or deliberately obfuscated a story on their site. And Armitage, thanks for the links. I'll read them directly.
• My apologies, Mr. K. That was only the second time.
• Thanks for the links, Armitage. There is a fairly clear bias, certainly with respect to that Bin Laden Family Flights page, and the fact that the later-edited page does not contain a prominent disclaimer or statement of addendum/correction. I don't consider this as a loss of all credibility, though I will look on politically-charged articles with a jaundiced eye. Now with that out of the way, why would their bias have anything to do with their coverage of that 12-year-old girl? To forge a parallel, is the Weather segment on Fox News also suspect and part of the Neo-Conservative conspiracy to make you leave your umbrella at home?
• Not necessary to invoke conspiracies, merely necessary to note that a purported objective source has been shown to be rather non-objective on at least one occasion, thus all further reports from that source should be regarded as possibly not as well researched as one might hope.
• That makes a lot more sense to me than the earlier post, Chyren. Though I disagree with the scope of the implications, thanks for further explaining.
• a purported objective source has been shown to be rather non-objective on at least one occasion Well, to be precise, they've been shown to be non-objective about Michael Moore. I don't see why that lapse would make anyone think they're less trustworthy about urban legends in general, given their good track record overall. Similarly, I think James Lileks is a pretty loathesome wingnut when it comes to politics, but he seems to be quite knowledgeable about the suspension of vegetables in Jello.
• Won't anyone think of the damn kid? Heh. I really am curious as to why a child would simply not grow, nor respond to human growth hormone.
• Aw crap. Now the poor kid is in trouble with the Lord.
• Despite your protestations, you still have to admit that according to the words you wrote, you've seen at least one instance where the only people accusing snopes of bias were people people with an aggenda to push. You've even offered up a list of their agendas. So you should be able to offer up a link to this instance you've seen. This is what I'm asking proof of, because I don't believe it. I"m not asking for a proof of a universal, but of an existential. I just want to be shown a single instance where your claims have been true. If you honestly believe I'm quoting you out of context, then you have little understanding of what the term "out of context" means. No one thinks snopes is as biased as Fox News, your missing the point. People appeal to the authority of snopes often. Even if apppealing to authority was a valid technique, it should be understood that this authority is known to fuck up. Snopes themselves have made a point of showing that they aren't the final word. The saudi flight thing isn't the only instance of isreporting, it's just the easiest to point at, because it was so blatant that they had to admit to it. They do deserve credit for their admission to that one, but it doesn't change the fact that they still have bias.
• Snopes is biased against urban legends.
• Haaaang on Snopey, Snopey hang on. Ha! I'll see your derail, and raise you mindless destruction! I stompted the shizz out of this joint with my manual-controlled dinosaur.
• Neoteny.
• MJ, with regards to why the kid wouldn't grow even in response to HGH... I haven't seen all the test results that they've done, but there's probably some flaw in one of the pathways that leads from receiving hormones on the cell surface to where it gets to the nucleus and actually exerts an effect; this could have happened for HGH or some other necessary growth factor. It's amazing how many ways the human body can go wrong because of how complicated the systems it relies on are; in general a flaw this bad would probably cause a miscarriage or stillbirth, but every once in a while you see a baby survive with some sort of mutation thought to be incompatible with life. Anyway, my money's on this kid having a below normal to normal life span; just, never maturing.
• my best pal the neuroscientist chick and i have been pondering this case. yes, i think it's real. i contacted the progeria folks (that's the opposite of what she has, when kids age far too rapidly) and they said they weren't familiar with this syndrome either. interesting stuff. (it may have been taken down from the newspaper/TV station sites because it's been a few weeks since it came out)
• I'm pretty sure she is at least a goddess, and perhaps the messiah herself.
• One of my mom's best friends had a kid two days before I was born. He was severely hydrocephalic, and because of that only had a partial brain. He lived into his teens, but was always about the size of a 2 or 3 year old. The doctors just figured that his body was too busy trying to stay alive to expend the energy on growing. Growing bigger takes an enormous amount of resources, and sometimes the body doesn't have that to spare.
• I find the whole situation tragic beyond all telling. I can't fathom being in the parents' position - my heart goes out to them all. Poor child.