Shit has reached critical levels of stupidity. Anti-vax movement.

[BerenTebogo]

Many of you may be vaguely familiar with the Anti-vaccination movement, at least I hope you are.

This movement is comprised of fucking twatwaddlers such as Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carey, Oprah, and the now stripped-of-his-license-to-practice-medicine Dr. Andrew Wakefield.

A while back we had a topic(http://www.bluegartr.com/forum/showt...ghlight=Autism) about this and in a similar thread we had a video posted of a high school girl who claimed she was stricken by Autism due to immunizations, which showed her slurring her words and walking like a fucking retard (pun intended).

That video has of course since been proven to be completely fake and the girl openly admitted she was lying. While the initial video of her "Autism" made news across the country, the "I'm a lying cunt who should be burned at the stake" retraction did not.

Now, anyone with any common sense whatsoever knows that vaccinations do not cause autism and that this whole shit is made up by uneducated hollywood fuckballs. I attribute the lack of talk on these forums about this to the fact that we all know better.

Hell, here we have Jenny McCarthy talking about she cured her sons MOTHERFUCKING AUTISM herself. I shit you not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<obje...mbed></object>

Obviously, the people behind this movement are worthy of nothing more than our complete and total contempt. It should be illegal to endanger the public like this, but it isn't. On the bright side, maybe this can be considered a furtherance of natural selection. That's the only upshot I see here.

Now for the current problem: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/Pages/NR10-041.aspx

WHOOPING COUGH EPIDEMIC MAY BE WORST IN 50 YEARS

Date: 6/23/2010

Number: 10-041

Contact: Al Lundeen (916) 440-7259

SACRAMENTO

Urging Californians to get vaccinated now, Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), warned today that the state is on pace to suffer the most illnesses and deaths due to pertussis, also known as whooping cough, in 50 years.

“Whooping cough is now an epidemic in California,” Horton said. “Children should be vaccinated against the disease and parents, family members and caregivers of infants need a booster shot.”

As of June 15, California had recorded 910 cases of pertussis, a four-fold increase from the same period last year when 219 cases were recorded. Five infants — all under three months of age — have died from the disease this year. In addition, 600 more possible cases of pertussis are being investigated by local health departments.

Pertussis is cyclical. Cases tend to peak every two to five years. In 2005, California recorded 3,182 cases and eight deaths.

Pertussis is a highly contagious disease. Unimmunized or incompletely immunized young infants are particularly vulnerable. Since 1998, more than 80 percent of the infants in California who have died from pertussis have been Hispanic.

The pertussis vaccine is safe for children and adults. Pertussis vaccination begins at two months of age, but young infants are not adequately protected until the initial series of three shots is complete at 6 months of age. The series of shots that most children receive wears off by the time they finish middle school. Neither vaccination nor illness from pertussis provides lifetime immunity.

Pregnant women may be vaccinated against pertussis before pregnancy, during pregnancy or after giving birth. Fathers may be vaccinated at any time, but preferably before the birth of their baby. CDPH encourages birthing hospitals to implement policies to vaccinate new mothers and fathers before sending newborns home. CDPH is providing vaccine free of charge to hospitals.

Others who may have contact with infants, including family members, healthcare workers, and childcare workers, should also be vaccinated. Individuals should contact their regular health care provider or local health department to inquire about pertussis vaccination.

A typical case of pertussis in children and adults starts with a cough and runny nose for one-to-two weeks, followed by weeks to months of rapid coughing fits that sometimes end with a whooping sound. Fever is rare.

With access to the best medicine and health care opportunities we have ever had in the history of the human race. In an incredibly wealthy and prosperous state. This well-controlled and suppressed ailment is making a strong and widespread comeback. My mind is fucking blown.

There are no direct correlations at the moment between the anti-vax movement and the resurgence of this disease, but that is only because there can never be any direct proof. Vaccinations have never been a 100% fool-proof system and not being vaccinated has never been 100% that you will contract any disease. However, when you start exposing an ever-growing number of the population to a disease that can run rampant, very very quickly, I don't think it takes a huge mental leap to see that the damage here is being done by these uneducated, attention-whoring fuckbags.

So, BG parents I implore you, if you have even for a minute considered that these psychotic assholes have made claims that carry any truth whatsoever, please please please do the research. Honestly, if you are stupid enough to not vaccinate your children you may deserve whatever is coming to you, but if we allow a disease to run rampant and gain strength it will most likely mutate into a strain that is resistant to our vaccination.

Thus endangering people who aren't mindblowingly stupid. Please, think of the people who aren't as stupid as you.

[Meph]

not vaccinating your newborn is retarded.
vaccinating for the swineflu is retarded.

[Cadsuane]

Just one feculent tentacle of the hideous lovecraftian horror that is the American anti-science movement.

[BerenTebogo]

Just one feculent tentacle of the hideous lovecraftian horror that is the American anti-science movement.

Australia is gung-ho about it too. They're worse than America on many aspects though.

'Sup government openly controlled by religious fundamentalists and creationists.

[Eggroll]

Just finished my immunology summer course, and it's sad to see some people refusing to get out of the stone age. There's been a general trend away from vaccines, and roughly a third of infants in California aren't vaccinated at all, while 1/2 are behind on their immunization schedules, and these are life threatening diseases. The really terrible part of it is that a majority of the people who won't vaccinate their children do it for absurd reasons; things like vaccines causing autism (anyone who knows anything about autism knows how ridiculous this is) or because they think they'll become paralyzed with all the attention the Gardasil vaccine received. You don't need to look very hard at all to see how vital vaccines are, all you have to do is look at a table showing the massive decrease in deaths due to pathogens, or the diptheria epidemic that occurred after the Soviet Union broke up.

[Cadsuane]

Australia is gung-ho about it too. They're worse than America on many aspects though.

'Sup government openly controlled by religious fundamentalists and creationists.

Yes, that's true. I suppose it's latent to some extent everwhere. Someone should do some landmark study on how cult like ideologies gain traction like that among specific demographics, to see what makes the swinish multitude docile and reasonable in one area and completely unable to keep their filthy mouths shut in another. It would reform modern political thought.

[BerenTebogo]

Yes, that's true. I suppose it's latent to some extent everwhere. Someone should do some landmark study on how cult like ideologies gain traction like that among specific demographics, to see what makes the swinish multitude docile and reasonable in one area and completely unable to keep their filthy mouths shut in another. It would reform modern political thought.

When someone like Oprah, who can't keep her cuntish mouth shut, gets on and starts preaching about "protecting our children" and shit and uses this (now disgraced and stripped of his license UK doctor) as evidence of the evils of vaccinations the dumbfucks who actually watch Oprah daily and live their lives by her word and hers alone completely block out the intelligent dissent from the people who aren't lying.

Penn & Teller have an anti-anti-vax episode coming up later this summer in their 8th season and even before it has aired they've received a ton of mail saying how they've been influenced or sold out to the pharmaceutical conglomerate and are lying, etc etc.

It's absolutely ridiculous. There's no words for it other than that. The unwashed masses of this country trust media figureheads who have no actual expertise in the area whatsoever over people who have devoted their entire lives to making this world a safer place for us to live in. And the reason for it is just because they "know" Oprah and she'd never lie!

Hollywood is the American spearhead of this. Which is no surprise. People in fucking Hollywood name their kids "Suri" and "Rumer". Too fucking Neo-hippie for their own fucking good.

[Mojo]

I remember hearing about this when I was like 13 or something. It was from one of my teacher's who had discovered that her son had autism. It seemed like a coping mechanism to me, which is understandable but unfortunate at the same time. It's sad to seen that it's ballooned into something this big.

Also, is it just me or does it seem like Oprah is always the first person to hop on board when it comes to shit like this?

[Fievel]

I remember hearing about this when I was like 13 or something. It was from one of my teacher's who had discovered that her son had autism. It seemed like a coping mechanism to me, which is understandable but unfortunate at the same time. It's sad to seen that it's ballooned into something this big.

Also, is it just me or does it seem like Oprah is always the first person to hop on board when it comes to shit like this?

It's not just you, Oprah is a fucking idiot when it comes to this shit.

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

It's a bit scary that diseases we cured over a century ago are coming back because of this kinda shit. But I mean in the day and age of information overload it's really hard for some people to be able to filter through the bullshit before it's too late.

I mean on one side you have Big Pharma pushing bad drugs on people that were catapulted through the approval process at the FDA and end up being pulled for killing people, sup Vioxx, and then you have one doctor claim vaccinations cause autism and people lose their shit.

I don't really have a lot of disdain for people that are leery of stuff coming out of the pharmaceutical sector I just hate at how some ridiculous shit can become viral so fast and have lasting consequences. To me it seems more like a matter of information regulation but that shit just opens up a whole other can of worms.

[BerenTebogo]

Also, this site is quite obviously one-sided and cherry picking the stupidest of the anti-vax movement, but it still gives you some idea of how the other side thinks.

You know, for those of us who remain rational and cannot possibly fathom how people believe this shit.

http://www.antivaxxers.com/

[BerenTebogo]

It's a bit scary that diseases we cured over a century ago are coming back because of this kinda shit. But I mean in the day and age of information overload it's really hard for some people to be able to filter through the bullshit before it's too late.

I mean on one side you have Big Pharma pushing bad drugs on people that were catapulted through the approval process at the FDA and end up being pulled for killing people, sup Vioxx, and then you have one doctor claim vaccinations cause autism and people lose their shit.

I don't really have a lot of disdain for people that are leery of stuff coming out of the pharmaceutical sector I just hate at how some ridiculous shit can become viral so fast and have lasting consequences. To me it seems more like a matter of information regulation but that shit just opens up a whole other can of worms.

Don't get me wrong, I think the "Big Pharma" can be equally as dangerous when it comes to the latest and greatest designer drugs. No question there.

But really, my problem comes with people who make some of the most important decisions in their lives, and then defend with fervor these choices, based on the guiding hand of celebrities. Not scientists, not reputable doctors, not their own research.

Fucking. Celebrities.

And really, there is no defense to that. It's your child. Take 20 minutes and google some shit.

[pahnphoenix]

Yes, that's true. I suppose it's latent to some extent everwhere. Someone should do some landmark study on how cult like ideologies gain traction like that among specific demographics, to see what makes the swinish multitude docile and reasonable in one area and completely unable to keep their filthy mouths shut in another. It would reform modern political thought.

uh, i'd be willing to bet a lot of studies have been done on exactly that topic, and that it continues to inform political thought.

i'd also guess that the way to control people (but still utilize them) is through various forms of systematic abuse. which is of course fortuitous considering that those who seek to control others generally seek to abuse as well, so it's win/win really.

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

Penn & Teller have an anti-anti-vax episode coming up later this summer in their 8th season and even before it has aired they've received a ton of mail saying how they've been influenced or sold out to the pharmaceutical conglomerate and are lying, etc etc.

Bullshit! is a good show. I think it's the only show I like to watch that actually pisses me off at some of the stuff they say and how it shakes some of my liberal values to the core but I still respect what they're trying to do.

They sensationalize some things and leave out a few conflicting details but not very often. It's probably more akin to time restraints of the show to actually have a full blown debate but they're pretty much on the mark at calling out bullshit and propaganda.

[Blarg]

90% of kids and adults who are autistic were given vaccines as children, I don't think you can argue with these facts!

[Rhinox]

nothx op

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

Don't get me wrong, I think the "Big Pharma" can be equally as dangerous when it comes to the latest and greatest designer drugs. No question there.

But really, my problem comes with people who make some of the most important decisions in their lives, and then defend with fervor these choices, based on the guiding hand of celebrities. Not scientists, not reputable doctors, not their own research.

Fucking. Celebrities.

And really, there is no defense to that. It's your child. Take 20 minutes and google some shit.

That's what I mean cause you can google any topic and find pretty much a 50/50 split between fact and varying levels of opinion. It's a massive side effect of our unlimited access to information and there is really no filter on it and it effects every aspect of our lives from what organic food is to what politician we vote for to what medications to take or not take to homeopathic remedies and on and on and on.

It's pretty scary because society is really still in the toddler phase of the information age.

[BerenTebogo]

Bullshit! is a good show. I think it's the only show I like to watch that actually pisses me off at some of the stuff they say and how it shakes some of my liberal values to the core but I still respect what they're trying to do.

They sensationalize some things and leave out a few conflicting details but not very often. It's probably more akin to time restraints of the show to actually have a full blown debate but they're pretty much on the mark at calling out bullshit and propaganda.

They recently did a show on Fast Food that I felt similarly about after finishing it. I mean, they were right in all their points, but they neglected to really introduce the fact that the negative effects are only really balanced out by a personal choice to lead an active and healthy lifestyle, regardless of what you are eating.

It irked me to a degree, so I definitely agree with your point, but the day I watch a show that completely agrees with me on every point and serves only to reinforce my grandiose delusions of superiority through intellectual masturbation, well, that's the day I probably need to stop watching TV.

Well-reasoned opposing viewpoints often make good fodder for either re-working a current stance on a topic or reinforcing one. I don't mind disagreeing with them on some topics.

[BerenTebogo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URHhyP4lmQ4

nothx op

That's the video! Fuck, thanks. I couldn't find it

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

They recently did a show on Fast Food that I felt similarly about after finishing it. I mean, they were right in all their points, but they neglected to really introduce the fact that the negative effects are only really balanced out by a personal choice to lead an active and healthy lifestyle, regardless of what you are eating.

It irked me to a degree, so I definitely agree with your point, but the day I watch a show that completely agrees with me on every point and serves only to reinforce my grandiose delusions of superiority through intellectual masturbation, well, that's the day I probably need to stop watching TV.

Well-reasoned opposing viewpoints often make good fodder for either re-working a current stance on a topic or reinforcing one. I don't mind disagreeing with them on some topics.

Yeah that show and Bill Maher are pretty much the only two shows I can watch interactively and talk at the screen lol. Bill Maher is nice because he really tries to bring on people of opposing and middle viewpoints in various walks of life so it's interesting watch discussions unfold with certain panels.

I think one of my favorite panelists ever is P.J. O'Rourke because he can debate his Republican views but still knock at the absurdities he sees in his own party and policy choices and doesn't sugar coat his views or shy away from calling bs on either side of the table.