[pct-l] Why Rockwell is right

[Ken Murray]

"This statement of Rockwell seems pretty clear to me: "One conclusion
of this paper is that you can indeed contract giardiasis on visits to
the high mountains of the Sierra Nevada, but it almost certainly won’t
be from the water. So drink freely and confidently."  I have shown his
calculations of the odds of contracting Giardiasis are deeply flawed
due to a misinterpretation of a single very limited study."

Actually, you've done nothing of the sort.

"You ignored the large study I cited,
as well as the large poll I linked to."

Sorry, but here is where we really take a major turn in different directions.
I've reread your post, and nowhere do you cite a study.  you TALK ABOUT a study.
Citing a study is when you provide a citation...like I did...so that others can 
look at the alleged study themselves.  You did not link to a poll.  You only
linked to your website.

So here we have a problem:  you said that you did something, but anyone can
review your post, and find that you did not do what you said you did.
Hmmmm.  How to characterize that action?  Did you do that deliberately?
In that case, it would be a lie.  Did you do it because you don't know
what you are talking about?  Well, that sorta stands for itself.

"At the time Rockwell wrote his paper the Hetch Hetchy water
supply HAD been given a waver for FILTERING but still had to comply
with DISINFECTION standards (using Chlorine.)"

Oh, here we have to deal with your subject knowledge, again.
There was just a thread on this, about treating water for Giardia.
Chlorine is ineffective.  It doesn't work. It's not useful.  It won't 
protect you. The EPA site that you have referenced DOES mention this:

"What is being done to reduce waterborne
risks?
EPA’s Surface Water Treatment Rule
(SWTR) requires that public water systems
filter, except in rare circumstances," 

"If you read through my blog post you'll find I've cited considerably
more scientific sources than you did. I “cherry-picked” the part about
drinking water because that was the topic."

We'll see about that in a moment.

">From the EPA: "The incubation period (time interval between ingestion
and the first appearance of symptoms) can range from 3 to 25 days."
Many other sources agree. It’s important that people know that
symptoms can appear sooner than the oft-quoted 7-10 days."

Ah, but you don't know WHY there is this discrepency.  That is because
there are special subsets of people that are far more suseptible to 
the infection, and develop symptoms sooner.  This would be infants, 
the very elderly, and the general category of people with severe 
immunosuppression. None of those groups are found out on trails, so those
who write about Giardia in the wilderness know to write about the people who 
are ACTUALLY out there.  That is so they don't MISLEAD people, the way you are.

But then, you have never been responsible for the diagnosis or treatment of
people with Giardia, so how would you know?

BUT WAIT!  What you quoted from the EPA (without a citation) 
DOES NOT SAY WHAT YOU SAID.
HERE is the full statement:

http://water.epa.gov/action/advisories/drinking/upload/2009_02_03_criteria_humanhealth_microbial_giardiafs.pdf

"How infective are Giardia cysts?

Giardia cysts are highly infective. As
few as ten human-source Giardia cysts
produced infection in a clinical study of male
volunteers. The incubation period (time
interval between ingestion and the first
appearance of symptoms) can range from 3 to
25 days."

But didn't you say:

"Rockwell says it takes 10 or more cysts to become infected with
Giardiasis. That figure is the basis of many of his calculations. He’s
wrong."

And you go on to trash him for using that information.
YOUR OWN SOURCE CONTRADICTS YOU AND SAYS HE'S RIGHT.

But you only quoted HALF of the EPA statement.  Why?
The first half contradicted you.

Did you know what you were doing, and doing it to mislead people?
In that case, you would be lying.

Did you not know what you were doing, and just ignorant and sloppy?
That speaks for itself.

"Unless the three doctors I cited are all lying, they treat lots of
cases of Giardiasis and don't report them."

Just give me their names.  Inasmuch as they are guilty of unprofessional
conduct, we can probably arrange for you to testify at their trials.
This is considered important stuff, which you obviously don't realize.

http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/Documents/Reportable_Diseases_Conditions.pdf

"This form is designed for health care providers to report those diseases mandated by Title 17, California Code of Regulations (CCR). Failure to report is a misdemeanor
(Health & Safety Code §120295) and is a citable offense under the Medical Board of California Citation and Fine Program (Title 16, CCR, §1364.10 and 1364.11)."

I'm not going to respond to the rest of your post, as it is simply more of the same uninformed stuff
by someone who doesn't actually know what they are talking about.