Comments on: Help vaccinate Las Vegas!

By: Damon

Damon — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:05:54 +0000

“Um, you do know how babies generally arive in this world? They have to come through this passage called a vagina and pop out of a place in a woman’s body that isn’t generally sterile. Then they have to start breathing this stuff called air, which is FULL of floating killer germs.
But it gets worse! Almost immediately, theyalso get people TOUCHING them with BARE UNWASHED HANDS, and BREATHING right into their faces. Some of these people even put their slobbery germ-ridden saliva onto these poor little babies’ faces with KISSES!
And these poor little newborn babies have NO immune defences whatsoever!!!! This horror should be stopped NOW!!!!!”

That’s right; cover up your ignorance of her statement by being sarcastic.

That said, the guy in this article looks too much like a crooked toolbag for me to support his efforts with a donation, so I’m going to have to pass.

Better luck next time. Maybe find a less creepy picture. :/

By: John Paradox

John Paradox — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:49:10 +0000

Hmmm… jumping over to Scientific American, there’s an article regarding creating autistic mice by making genetic changes.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=changing-a-chromosome-makes-mice-au-2009-06-26

By: Help vaccinate Las Vegas! | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine | Las Vegas News Blog

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:45:14 +0000

[...] Albietz must fit many of them. This good-natured, upbeat, intelligent, and skeptical man is a pe. More… Share and [...]

By: JediBear

JediBear — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:17:52 +0000

The US’s infant mortality rate is a touch high, but it’s generally due to a lack of intervention — poor mothers can’t afford adequate health care — than the opposite.

By: The Blind Watchmaker

The Blind Watchmaker — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:22:57 +0000

I will be there with my donation.

Don’t get bamboozled. Get vaccinated.

By: Ramel

Ramel — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:55:36 +0000

@Susan: In biological terms what you just wrote is bollocks, babies start life with functional imune systems and are exposed to infectious nasties from their first moments.

By: Carey

Carey — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:57:19 +0000

Cue Libertarians to justify user pays in 5… 4… 3…

Shane – I’m fairly libertarian, but I fully support a single-payer health care system.

Cue someone saying that I must therefore not be libertarian in 3… 2… (honestly, screw those people – there are many gray areas in politics, and if two parties don’t cover them all, I see no reason why three should either).

Any government that allows its citizens to bankrupt themselves in order to receive basic medical care is no government at all.

By: sophia8

sophia8 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:57:08 +0000

Susan@23: “they make no sense when given to given to newborns and infants before they even have their immune systems up and running ”
Um, you do know how babies generally arive in this world? They have to come through this passage called a vagina and pop out of a place in a woman’s body that isn’t generally sterile. Then they have to start breathing this stuff called air, which is FULL of floating killer germs.
But it gets worse! Almost immediately, theyalso get people TOUCHING them with BARE UNWASHED HANDS, and BREATHING right into their faces. Some of these people even put their slobbery germ-ridden saliva onto these poor little babies’ faces with KISSES!
And these poor little newborn babies have NO immune defences whatsoever!!!! This horror should be stopped NOW!!!!!

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:22:01 +0000

@susan
About vaccinations being more effective earlier than later, the link below is to the Oz govt current immunisation schedule for 0 – 4. Most of the vaccinations are done before 1 year.

http://www.medicare.gov.au/provider/patients/acir/schedule.jsp

By: susan

susan — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:04:57 +0000

Regarding compulsory vaccinations: U.S. schools say it is required for registration, but parents can sign a waiver for religious or health reasons and procede to enroll their kids.
The U.S. health system is broken in that it does too much intervention, too soon (hence our hideous rates of mortality at birth compared to other nations). Vaccinations work by stimulating the immune response; they make no sense when given to given to newborns and infants before they even have their immune systems up and running (some say not until age 2). That is why babies are supposed to be breast-fed–to borrow their mother’s immunities until they can develop their own antibodies.
Vaccinations are effective when given later (I thought I read that Canada doesn’t fully immunize until age 3 for this reason–is this correct?)
and when the are given as individual shots, not combos (there is no health reason why the MMR cannot be given as single shots, except for patient compliance- give ‘em as much as you can when you’ve got ‘em in the office because they may forget to come back.)

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:03:15 +0000

@mike
Yeah I had trouble finding it too and forgot to mention it… here’s the link to the registration/donation page…
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/component/content/article/37-static/446-the-amazing-meeting-7-registration.html

By: mike

mike — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:56:57 +0000

The link on his article doesn’t work for me, it just takes me back to the main JREF page. Can we get a direct link in here?

By: Richard Drumm The Astronomy Bum

Richard Drumm The Astronomy Bum — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:51:33 +0000

I tried to submit to Digg the Randi.org original page and Digg said:

“This URL has been widely reported by users for one of the following reasons: being used to spam Digg’s submission process, posting spam content, or posting off-topic content.”

What’s up with this? Have folks like Annie been working their nonsense and fooling Digg into rejecting reality? I wonder…

BTW, Willliam, no scopes (10 ordered) yet. Wah! :^(

By: Noadi

Noadi — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:29:08 +0000

This guy’s my hero right now! My sister-in-law is due to give birth to my little nephew in Las Vegas this fall. I’m sure being on an Air Force base vaccination rates are higher there than the city but it’s not like she has no exposure to civilians so the more who are vaccinated the better.

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:27:16 +0000

Annie, it is neither here nor there who pays for treatments when it comes to third world status but actively promoting disease? Well, it sounds like you’re doing everything in your power to hasten along third world nationhood. Nothing says third world like rampant preventable diseases. Congratulations.

By: Steve in Dublin

Steve in Dublin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:10:15 +0000

Shane, hi,

No, you haven’t been poe’d. From what I remember reading in other threads, Annie is an adamant anti-vaxxer… right Annie?

Cue response from Annie in 3… 2… 1…

Steve

By: Tom K.

Tom K. — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:08:56 +0000

Annie got her gun…..
Too scary to imagine (or real) who it is pointed at.

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:59:13 +0000

@Annie
You did read the post didn’t you? But, what causes autism, donating money?
Or, have I been Poed?

By: dp

dp — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:45:11 +0000

This is great and all, but it sure makes America sound like a third-world country. Yay Canada!

By: Ken

Ken — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:40:59 +0000

I just made a donation. Besides the obvious public health and individual quality of life issues, I have a selfish reason of my own: I want to ensure Vegas has a healthy next generation of blackjack dealers.

By: ioresult

ioresult — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:38:17 +0000

I totally agree with Shane @#5. Your health system really has a serious problem.

By: ndt

ndt — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:36:20 +0000

Niall Says:
June 25th, 2009 at 9:41 am
After a recent debate in the UK about the MMR vaccine being made compulsory I was under the impression that it was compulsory for school entry in the US. Is this correct?

Generally, yes, but it varies by state, and most states allow exemptions for religious reasons. And of course it only applies to public (government-funded) schools.

But as the article mentions, much of the unvaccinated children in Las Vegas are transients and many of them don’t go to school at all.

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:08:22 +0000

@Annie
Donating money?

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:46:15 +0000

A worthy cause but a $25 admin fee for childhood vaccinations? There’s something rotten in your health care system for sure. Holy crap that is outrageous.
Cue Libertarians to justify user pays in 5… 4… 3…

By: Niall

Niall — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:41:18 +0000

After a recent debate in the UK about the MMR vaccine being made compulsory I was under the impression that it was compulsory for school entry in the US. Is this correct?