Ignore Stupid Congressmen. Stick Your Kids With Needles!

Here is a video of a some of congressmen, especially Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio.) shamelessly repeating rumors about the dangers of vaccines that have been thorough debunked, including fearmongering about mercury in vaccines and giving airtime to conspiracy theorists who think the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are covering up links to autism.

And here's a picture of a baby who died because a lot of people in her area didn't get vaccinated. That (along with some aspects of the modern form of the vaccine) reduced herd immunity which made babies too young to be vaccinated vulnerable to diseases that should already have been wiped out if people would just stick their kids with needles already!

Via Slate.

Comments

[BlogimiDei]

sad.

[Terry Michael]

You do not have to believe that autism is linked to vaccines to be cautious about pumping a baby with a naive immune system full of man-made vaccines. In a Third World country, where infant mortality is common from natural immunity assaulted constantly by pathogen-laden drinking water, malnutrition, lack of proper sanitation, no basic healthcare, and ubiquitous old diseases, lots of infant vaccination might be part of a reasonable strategy. Ms. Mangu-Ward seems to be enthralled with the chemical-bearing gods of allopathic medicine, and their propagandists at the CDC. Our innate immunity and our adaptive immunity, developed over our lives, is what protects our health--not drugs, not physicians, and certainly not the sky-is-always-falling CDC.

[Redmanfms]

We've had a whooping cough outbreak in VA that has become epidemic, so you can take your anti-immunization horseshit and hit the road jack.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

Autism: the role of cholesterol in treatment.
Aneja A, Tierney E.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Department of Psychiatry, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21211, USA.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18386207

Aneja notes that cholesterol is essential for normal embryonic and fetal development and a deficit of cholesterol may contribute to autism spectrum disorders, as observed in Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome.
The review found that Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome is treatable by increasing dietary cholesterol.

[TotalState?]

I wonder if you tracked the campaign to lower cholesterol against the rise in autism, if there would be a correlation?

[affenkopf]

Correlation wouldn't tell us anything.

[Hugh Akston]

Nobody should pay attention to Jenny McCarthy if she's wearing a shirt.

[R C Dean]

I can't imagine losing a kid like that.

If it were me, my new life's work would be pursuing these anti-vaccine idiots with all the venom I can muster. Anybody running against Kucinich and Burton their ilk would have the nastiest "negative" ad anyone could want, starring moi.

[Hugh Akston]

You don't really need that much Venom to do the job.

[Marshall Gill]

RC, are most middle aged adults immunized against whooping cough? I thought it was a newer vaccine.

[TotalState?]

Born in '57. Yes, we got diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. We were vaccinated for measles, mumps and chicken-pox by getting the diseases.

[TotalState?]

"tetanus" I meant tuberculosis.

[Mensan]

We don't typically vaccinate against tuberculosis in the US anymore. The T in DTaP does stand for tetanus; diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus. DTaP has been routinely administered in the US since the 1940s.

[Randian]

Kucinich is finished in Congress, so that's a small favor.

[darius404]

He was one of the few good on civil liberties though, so it's a more of a mixed bag.

[Pagan Priestess]

I DID lose a kid like that...to a severe allergic reaction to a vaccine at three months. Fuck vaccines. And Fuck people who think the rare reactions are acceptable.

[NeonCat]

I'm sorry for your loss but still think people should get their kids vaccinated.

[Pagan Priestess]

Get your own kids vaccinated then, but not mine, not ever again. If I'd only known better then. My family has a long and extensive history of fatal allergies, short list for me: bees, every antibiotic ever tried on me, poison ivy, wheat, lavender, 80% of commercial detergents and perfumed products, FD&C #5 and many more. My cousin has celiac disease, my grandfather died of TB because he was allergic to the treatment regimen of the time. When hayfever season starts, I camp out at the pharmacy trying to get the maximum allowable ration of sudafed with out being locked up. Fuck the WOD! Don't worry about us giving you any diseases though, we're probably allergic to your cologne and won't get close enough to you to give you a disease.

[RBS]

Nobody here said anything about forcing you to vaccinate your children.

[Pagan Priestess]

Hmm, can you guess why one of the main reasons I homeschooled my children?

[RBS]

Because you don't want them to have any friends?

[Pagan Priestess]

I'm pretty sure my kids have more friends than you do. They're all adults now. One chef, one electrical engineer/physicist in grad school, one programmer, and the baby starts school on a full-ride scholarship for Physical Therapy next autumn. I started homeschooling because I refused to sacrifice another child to the collective, but along the way it turned out to be a better deal then government school in every way imaginable. The kids it is true didn't spend years ghettoized in strict age segregation so they could learn group think and Lord-of-the Flies social skills, but horribly were out and about talking and interacting with adults in many professions and real world situations.

[RBS]

You're pretty sure your children have more friends than someone you don't even know? I was joking about the homeschooling stereotype, mostly because your emotional attachment to the vaccine issue seems to prevent you from discussing it rationally and apparently you are also unable to discuss other subjects rationally.

[Pagan Priestess]

Is your humor circuit impaired? That was a dig at the stereotype as well. (snark) I object to mandated vaccines. I also object to the portrayal of all people who object to vaccines as kooks. Some of the people who object DO have strange reasons, however many people have scientifically valid reasons and the blanket condemnation of ant-vaccination overshadows the fact that there ARE people who should not be vaccinated;that there are people who suffer provable adverse reactions up to and including death.

[Coeus]

however many people have scientifically valid reasons and the blanket condemnation of ant-vaccination overshadows the fact that there ARE people who should not be vaccinated;that there are people who suffer provable adverse reactions up to and including death.

Popped in here expecting to be the lone voice of reason (drink) as I usually am on these threads. Glad to see that that there are others.

[sage]

How do you know you're fatally allergic? Are you a Walker?

[Pagan Priestess]

ER, tracheotomy,epinephrine, steroids, close call...heaven help me if I'm more than a few minutes away from an ER.

[Pagan Priestess]

With the antibiotics, I've basically got two uses before doom. First use is a freebie, second use is hives, third use is ER time (again). Now I just politely decline, "Here try this one, it's not on your chart." "Is this infection likely to be fatal?" "No it's just prophylactic." "No thank you, I would like to save it for a possibly fatal infection, before it gets added to my list."

[Atlas Slugged]

You're falling victim to the etiological fallacy. Just because a small percentage of the population does have severe allergies does not mean they should not be strongly recommended to the population at large. So before you say "Fuck vaccines", I'd like for you to sit down with all the people who died from smallpox or were paralyzed by polio. Also, if you'll look closely, I've never seen a mandated vaccination program that did not have an outlet for medical waivers. It sounds like you would qualify. But frankly fuck you for throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

[IceTrey]

C'mon, with a medical history like that you can't make any assertions about vaccines.

[NeonCat]

Trust me, lady, I don't want anything to do with you or your kids. But I bet if we went back in time to when lots and lots of kids died from measles, whooping cough, mumps, polio, smallpox, etc. and told their parents "we have a way to prevent most of the kids from dying from these illnesses but there's a very small chance they'll have an allergic reaction and die" they'd get their kids immunized.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Here is a video of a some of congressmen...

That's the term of venery for congressmen? I thought it was a snatch.

[Hugh Akston]

A morass.

[Marshall Gill]

reduced herd immunity

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Fuck anyone who wants to claim that I owe something to any fucking collective, even if you want to call it a "herd".

[C. S. P. Schofield]

Please die of smallpox.

Twit.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Please die of smallpox.

Which is absolutely possible since our glorious leaders saw it fit to stockpile the supposedly "eradicated" disease for their biological weapons programs!

Now go suck the State's syphilitic chancre infested cock, Schofield.

[Cytotoxic]

It would be possible anyway. We can't be sure there isn't some reservoir and the genome is not too complicated to synthesize. Better to have and not need than need and not have.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Yes, but the CDC stockpiles are sufficient for that.

[Marshall Gill]

Please die of smallpox.

How in the fuck would I get smallpox? A fire might get me sure, or a stray police bullet but small pox? WTF? Do you live in the 19th century or something?

Why does my failure to follow the "herd" offend so much? You are a sheep and wish it upon everyone else?

[Heroic Mulatto]

What he's saying is that without the munificent and glorious actions of the Collective (a.k.a. the World Health Organization) smallpox would still be around and you would die from it.

So bend down in front of that ugly gun with a twisted barrel sculpture at the U.N. and worship your betters, prole!

[Heroic Mulatto]

My sentiments exactly.

Yes, Mango, anti-vaccine nonsense is dangerous, but your sort of public health advocacy quickly leads to the use of force by the State in the name of the children. ("Dana's Law", perhaps?)

[Randian]

I don't see any problem with shaming people into getting a vaccine. Do you?

[Heroic Mulatto]

No, absolutely, use the bully pulpit...but in our political climate, don't be surprised when vaccines become mandatory (as in penaltax for those who don't get them).

[Jersey Patriot]

Herd Immunity protects those that can't protect themselves, such as infants.

[Marshall Gill]

those that can't protect themselves, such as infants.

Pathetic. How about their fucking parents? Only the Borg can protect the children? How many tens (hundreds?) of millions of human beings have died from this declaration? No doubt that both Mao and Stalin did it "for the children".

[darius404]

Advocating that parents get their children vaccinated is nowhere near the same as a totalitarian regime that killed millions. Don't be stupid.

[NeonCat]

He can't help it.

[IceTrey]

He's talking about a child's immune system.

[littonj]

The picture of the baby is gratuitous and adds nothing to the point you're trying to make. That kind of emotional argument doesn't belong in Reason.

[Randian]

The real victims of ignorance are fair play. You're just uncomfortable with your own ignorance, I would guess.

[Cytotoxic]

+1

[TotalState?]

Oh I don't know. I figure they can show this live baby because they showed those live Palestinian kids pretending to be dead.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Is Dennis Kucinich part of the anti-science right now?

[Mensan]

Ignore Stupid Congressmen. Stick Your Kids With Needles!

Agreed. Except, don't do it yourself. Bring 'em to me, and I'll do it, but you have to hold them still. Babies are actually really easy to stick the first time. The don't even cry until about 10 seconds after you're finished with the shot. They just give you this astonished look for a while, and then start screaming.

[RBS]

The build up to the scream was the most pitiful thing I've seen since we had our son.

[waaminn]

That looks like its gonna be good dude. Wow.

http://www.Anon-Hide.tk

[Doktor Kapitalism]

That just crossed the line!

[Generic Stranger]

Pedobot crossed the line weeks ago.

[ant1sthenes]

Says the site that publishes Terry Michael's screeds about the non-link between HIV and AIDS.

[darius404]

....and publishes rebuttals of them, and links to rebuttals of them.

[amelia]

I saw this last night. Burton was shamelessly grandstanding, along with some others who I don't recall. "My constituents are coming to me blah blah blah..." Two of them cut off the woman from the CDC while she was responding to their questions and told her she was wasting their minutes - this despite that one of the questioners repeated her single question ad nauseum for what felt like 5 minutes before she shut up to let the woman answer it.

[Thelma Lenore]

So these people who are dead set against vaccines, what do you do when you get a cut on a dirty piece of metal. Do you refuse the tetanus vaccine? What if you are bitten by a rabid animal. Do you refuse the rabies vaccine as well? It is really easy to refuse a vaccine for something you don't think you will ever get.

When I was a kid you couldn't go to school without vaccinations. I don't think that anyone cared if you had any kind of objection, so there were no exceptions. I was vaccinated for polio, both dead and live vaccine, smallpox twice, and the normal DPT. I suspect most children of the 50's could say the same, but there was no epidemic of autism. I doubt there were a lot of sudden deaths either. I just tried googling immunization deaths, but the top hits seem to be overwhelmed by anti vaccination sites.

I had my kids vaccinated for everything that was available, including the HIB and Hepatitis C vaccines. Why would you risk having your children at least somewhat protected from these diseases? Potential horrible side effects are scary, but not as scary as actually getting the disease. Sadly almost all of these ridiculous fears and theories are because some fraud in Britain managed to get his ridiculous claims published. His whole whacked theory is like a zombie, it can't be killed.

[OldMexican]

And here's a picture of a baby who died because a lot of people in her area didn't get vaccinated.

People's inaction is not and cannot be the cause of someone's death.

Get your logic straight.

[jili5]

I never knew this was on here. Dan Burton is a hero to attack these crooks at the FDA. That bureaucrat just sits there with no answer to why they're putting mercury in vaccines, no answer to her actions, and essentially no punishment either. They don't safety test these vaccines yet we're supposed to trust the FDA that their word is the word of God.