The More You Know

Despite having a two-year-old well-progressed into the vaccination calendar, I have largely let the recent "antivaccination" "movement" fall under my radar -- that is, until very recently. The general, and completely unsupported, claim is that there is a link between vaccination and autism -- typically explained by the "toxic" ingredients that serve as preservatives, binding agents, antibacterials, etc., in the vaccines. Originally, Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, was blamed as the culprit -- until it was removed in 2001 and autism continued unabated in the population.

Well, recently, it came more to my attention, when I found out that a friend who had recently had a kid was considering not getting all the vaccinations -- at the urging of his wife, who absorbs daytime TV like a sponge, where this movement is unfortunately attracting a considerable audience.

Anywho, I could rant and rant and rant about the mortally dangerous stupidity of this so-called "movement", using terms like "herd immunity" and "diagnostic broadening and substitution", and concepts like "correlation does not equal causation" or "the plural of anecdote is not data" or "the dose makes the poison", and I could even point out that autism incidence only began to rise when it became its own category of diagnosis for federal funding purposes. I could, but I won't, because it'll just make me angry and upset, and I haven't had my coffee yet this morning. So instead, I'll just link to this article here speaking out against the idiocy of antivaccination advocacy at the execrable Huffington Post, and another one, pointing out the sheer stupidity that occurs when one has Jenny "Yeah, I Remember Seeing Naked Pictures Of Her Back When I Was In College" McCarthy as a primary spokes-mom.