Status of Cryptography Research in implementation of the EUCD

[Owen Lewis]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukcrypto-admin@chiark.greenend.org.uk
> [mailto:ukcrypto-admin@chiark.greenend.org.uk]On Behalf Of Adrian
> Midgley
> Sent: 14 August 2002 16:31
> To: ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk
> Subject: Re: Status of Cryptography Research in implementation of the
> EUCD

> Wakefield and MMR is diffciult.  Caveat Emptor I'd say.  Bolsin
> and Bristol,
> teh helicobactr story and so on are good illustrations that preventing
> publication in case it upsets the desired order of things is not a good
> strategy.
>
> Part of the massive unconvincingness of the Chief Medical Officer
> arises from
> that, that it is a condition of his employment that he echoes the
> government
> line, personally I think his position on this is such that he should have
> resigned some months ago, but I doubt it is really his fault what
> he has to
> say and do while he keeps the job.

That leads us away down an enticing primrose path. IMO there should be
circle in hell for those public servants who put the continuance of their
salary unto pension before their principles and do not come to repent of
their folly. Perhaps not so hard to do though if your principles are so
small that you can never find them when you need them.

As said, which claim regarding the vaccine carry the weight of the
scientific argument is not for me to comment on. However, it is clear that a
diminution in the uptake of vaccination, caused by publication of (and
endless publicity for) the claims, *must* lead to some increase in the
incidence of death and serious disability among those unvaccinated. The
question is, whether this increase is greater or smaller than the damage
that MMR, it is claimed, would have been caused to the same group, had they
opted to be vaccinated. We may never know. Gut tells me that, at best, it
will likely be a close balance; at worst, the claims about MMR will prove
ill-founded and the publication of them therefore to have been clearly
harmful to the general good.

But, as you say, take a different example and the opposite may well be true.
No principles; only cases.

Owen