Interesting stuff: Guess which state is number one in vaccinations?
The California connection is interesting as well. More new age nutcases I guess.
California also has a huge conservative population. It’s a huge state, in general. Our major metro areas (SF, LA, etc.) are liberal. We also have a very large rural population in the central regions that’s conservative.
So vaccines DO make you stupid?
I believe that the prior studies have shown the low vaccination rates in CA tend to be in some of those urban areas though, rather than the more conservative northern region.
The sentence that have him away as a brain dead moron vs. a real scientist is his sentence “in med school you don’t question anything”.
The whole point of science and critical thinking is to question EVERYTHING and then back it up with evidence or discard it. Not questioning anything makes him a piss poor scientist.
Orange County is urban, southernly located, and conservative.
(That said, I have no idea what it’s vax rates are, vax seems to fall on both sides, from religious to hippy, though those are kind of similar people)
I heard on the radio today coming into work that California currently has a law allowing you to “opt out” of vaccines and that something like 13k people had taken that option. There was supposed to be a new law introduced today to make that harder to do.
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/me-pol-measles-vaccination-20150203-story.html
The Guardian articles on anti-vaxxers are interresting as they all turn up in the comments with their links to “studies” (well, blogs and quacks), and their lists of toxic chemicals and their new found expertise on formaldehyde and mercury and stuff.
http://www.theguardian.com/society/vaccines
A very similar crowd with very similar links and lists turn up on the homeopathic quackery articles too, much to the surprise of no one.
Yeah, this guy is a common “source” cited by anti-vaxers.
It’s so weird, because the guy is a trained neurosurgeon, so he obivously can’t be a complete imbecile. He practiced for decades, and invented some actual things regarding neurosurgery.
But when you look at the crap he spouts, it’s conspiracy theory nonsense. Stuff like flouride in the water is toxic, aluminum pans cause Alzheimer, etc.
Not really. Med School isn’t really “scientific”, it’s teaching you medicine as a profession.
pwk - Yea, unsurprised.
Not to mention the annoyingly quick leap between correlation and causation.
Here is the rate of autism increase in the United States:
It is suspiciously similar to the increase in college tuition across roughly the same time:
It is also frighteningly close to the increasing rate of home-schooling in the US:
Clearly, if we want to reduce autism rates in the US, we need to make colleges cheaper and make home-schooling illegal.
The only way it could get any worse if someone finds gluten in the vaccine ingredients, because then the entire planet is doomed.
While being taught, if you don’t ask questions then you shouldn’t be there.
One, I lecture. Students ><
Two, questioning is not quite the same as rejecting the basis of what you’re being taught.
He’s an ass, but it’s not really medschool related, that’s an excuse afaik.
Yeah, I’ve taught as well. His comment is simply ridiculous, and his assertion of not questioning in med school is bizarre. I think you just agreed with me, but that’s hard to parse.
Got my Tdap booster this morning. Figured the best way to be pro-vaccines is to get them. Called my mom to see if I ever had measles, which was a no, but I did have chicken pox as a kid. So MMR is probably next.
Apparently I had contracted measles before I turned 1. Found that out over the weekend, never knew that.
Jeb Bush spoke today in Detroit:
“Parents ought to make sure their children are vaccinated,” he said in response to a question after his speech at the Detroit Economic Club. He did not specify whether that meant the state should mandate vaccines.
After a long pause, he added, with exasperation, “Do we need to get into detail on that?”
“Parents have a responsibility to make sure their children are protected. Over and out.”
Kudos to him.
At least one working brain on the right, then.
It is a bit cagey still. Granted given what the other potential Republican candidates said, I won’t hold him too harshly I suppose. He basically supported vaccinations without making any kind of statement that can tie him to a specific policy plan.
Yes :P
Anyway - I’ve had chicken pox myself, but apparently we don’t immunise for it in the UK and America does.