Happy Saturday, everyone! Let’s take a look at some follow-ups to some news stories for this week.

First of all, the Brian Williams debacle is not going away. CNN had interviewed the supposed pilot of Williams’ helicopter in Iraq during the 2003 invasion, when this whole story supposedly took place. Now, however, the same pilot is recanting.

The pilot I interviewed on Thursday about Brian Williams is no longer standing by his story. http://t.co/GyYahQAAVl

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 6, 2015

And the man who says he IS the pilot…. says that it was just a sandstorm.

We were a flight of two, and I was the rear aircraft. Our flight to Objective Rams was uneventful, with the exception of a desert dust storm that caused deteriorating conditions not suitable for flight.
We determined that we would not make it back to Kuwait as planned. When we arrived at Objective Rams, we found a US armor unit on the objective. There was also a CH-47 from the “Big Windy” unit out of Germany.
The CH-47 was already shut down, and the entire crew was no longer at the aircraft. We dropped off the bridges and landed next to the parked CH-47 and the Bradley Fighting Vehicles due to the weather.
After landing, we learned that the parked aircraft had received small-arms fire and had been hit with an RPG on their mission.
Brian Williams and crew recorded footage of this parked aircraft. The “Big Windy” aircraft was not part of our unit. It was not part of our flight. We were not flying “behind” them. Our missions were completely separate.
Brian Williams began to tell the story, from 2003, that the lead aircraft in our flight had received this ground fire.
This was not true.

However, as much as NBC wants this to go away, the sheer number of times Williams has told this story ON CAMERA is coming back to kick him in the rear end.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa_1Lz299fY
Between this, and the new scrutiny being aimed at his Hurricane Katrina reportage, expect that Brian Williams is going to either eat more crow, or lose his job.

This week also had the unpleasant news that while the politicians are still sticking their feet in their mouths and conveniently backtracking previous positions on vaccinations, another measles outbreak has been reported in Illinois, at a daycare. Five children have contracted the measles virus, and all of them were unvaccinated, because all of them are UNDER a year old – and too young to be vaccinated.

Five babies under the age of 1 have been infected with measles in a cluster at a suburban Chicago daycare center, officials said Thursday.

They said it’s not yet clear if the outbreak is linked to the Disneyland measles outbreak, which has spread to dozens of people in at least 14 states.

“We do expect that there will be more cases associated with this daycare,” Dr. Kiran Joshi of the Cook County Department of Public Health told a news conference.

“At this time, the source of infection for the children is not known. Health officials have taken extra precautions to limit the spread,” Illinois Department of Public Health and the Cook County Department of Public Health said in a joint statement.

“All students, staff and faculty at this facility have been notified and anyone who has not received the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine has been instructed to remain at home and away from unvaccinated individuals for the next 21 days.”

One of the only positive things to come out of this is that the advocacy group Autism Speaks is now promoting vaccination – something they should have done years and years ago, once the Andrew Wakefield paper was thoroughly debunked.

Their formal statement was blunt and to the point.

Over the last two decades, extensive research has asked whether there is any link between childhood vaccinations and autism. The results of this research are clear: Vaccines do not cause autism. We urge that all children be fully vaccinated.

As the mother of an ASD child, let me be the first to say FINALLY and THANK YOU to Autism Speaks.

And I said there was going to be a happy birthday tribute. Today is celebrated author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s 148th birthday. She is getting her own Google Doodle, but more importantly, everyone should just go read her books. (And skip the TV show.)

Interest in Laura’s stories has been recently revived by the release of her original autobiography, Pioneer Girl. The manuscript was held by the South Dakota State Historical Society, who published an annotated hardcover. It has proved to be so popular that it quite literally sold out instantly (and I should know, I tried to get a copy) and a second printing is on order. Amazon is now allowing people to purchase it on their website once again, where it is a number one best seller.

I am a huge Laura Ingalls Wilder fan – I have even managed to visit Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield, Missouri!

I have shared the books with my own daughter, and I know that she has enjoyed them just as much as I have. Laura’s ingenuity of spirit and love of family was embodied in both her life and her books, and they still speak to readers of all ages today.

That wraps up another Saturday’s Story Sequels post! Have a great rest of the weekend!