S04.E17: Vaccines

[Athena]

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Other segments: Lawsuit over coal segment from episode 105, possible existence of Trump-Comey recordings, Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017

 

[Lantern7]

If it is determined that I am right and fucked in the head, I'm certain vaccinations would not have been a factor in that. Thanks to John for not bringing up Jenny McCarthy . . . but Rob Schnieder? Ew. At least his contemporaries on SNL had a few hits. You wanna know why we never see Colleen Haskell, the original "Survivor sweetheart"? Because she was the romantic lead in one of his movies, and she had to go into hiding.

Also: There is stuff to do in Scranton, PA, right? Don't they have a Yankees' minor league team? Rally around that, not a model train set.

ETA: Did the show's people make that image of the donkey dressed as a cheerleader? That would be disturbing if that was a stock image on an obscure site. I'd understand if they cobbled it together.

[jbrecken]

Maybe she cheers for donkey basketball games.

[Jediknight]

Guys, I didn't get Polio this past week.  So lit!

[BusyOctober]

This "debate" over vaccinations is so ridiculous IMO.  I worked with a woman years ago who was anti-vax.  She had NO proof or sound argument to back up her claims that inoculating children was just an evil conspiracy between "Big Pharma" & the government. "The government has been working with vax manufacturers to poison our kids as a means of population control!"  Um, actually just the opposite you dumb twit...YOU and other anti-vaxers are the ones choosing to 'cull the herd' by introducing deadly diseases back into the population.  Thank goodness that idiot left my company after her maternity leave.  I try not to engage in this argument any more because it is futile.  Once the crazy sets in, it doesn't come off. 

[Snipsa]

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I didn't get polio today! So LIT!!!

This is a topic I'm passionate about, and I just can't with anti-vax people!

 

Watch somebody suffer from Measles, Polio or any other preventable disease, and tell me again about the hazards of vaccinations!

And the point John mentioned, but I wish he would go a bit further into, is the fact that the time people spend trying to prove a nonexistent link between vaccinations and autism, could and should be spent on trying to find the causes and cure for autism!  Priorities people!!!

Edited June 26, 2017 by Drogo
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[iMonrey]

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Thanks to John for not bringing up Jenny McCarthy . . . but Rob Schnieder?

I was actually a little surprised he didn't mention McCarthy, because she's pretty much the most well-known anti-vaxxer celebrity. Maybe he didn't feel like she ever really had much of an impact since nobody takes her seriously. 

[ganesh]

A few years ago some moron college kid at Berkeley was on BART *with measles*. Thankfully no one else was stupid and there wasn't a breakout. 

It probably will never happen, but I'd like it if parents were found criminally negligent if their kids got other kids sick. 

[DEL901]

21 minutes ago, ganesh said:

A few years ago some moron college kid at Berkeley was on BART *with measles*. Thankfully no one else was stupid and there wasn't a breakout. 

It probably will never happen, but I'd like it if parents were found criminally negligent if their kids got other kids sick. 

Law and Order (the original version) did an episode like this years ago.  A baby that was too young to be vaccinated died because some idiot anti-vax parents didn't get their own kids immunized.  

[scarynikki12]

I think he chose Schneider because no one is going to take him seriously.  People take McCarthy seriously unfortunately. 

I like that he didn't focus on anecdotal evidence, which anti-vaxxers rely on almost exclusively (with Wakefield's bogus study being their "scientific" evidence), and can derail discussion in an instant. He's right: continuously trying to prove a link between Autism and vaccines prevents those resources from being applied elsewhere. 

Nice to see Mr Nutterbutter again and I can't wait for the lawsuit to get dumped so Ollie can talk about it. 

[Lantern7]

Here is John's thought process in my mind: "I should go after Jenny . . . actually, no. She got me through so many lonely nights in England. I chub up looking at Chris Hardwick because of his association with Singled Out. Let's see . . . 'celebrities,' 'anti-vaxx' . . . should I spell that with one 'x' or two? Oh! Rob Schnieder!! The least attractive cast member from Saturday Night Live ever! He is the very definition of a 'boner breaker'!! And he's not happy with vaccines? Corr blimey, I'll use him. 'Johnny! Johnny O!! Look at me, makin' nonsense!!!' There were TWO Deuce Bigaloew movies?!? For fuck's sake!!!"

[ganesh]

I'm still incredulous how the so-called journalist complimented Trump on being smart to threaten that there were recordings in order to affect Comey's testimony. Nearly everyone on the planet has to have seen one tv episode or movie where a witness is threatened and is too scared to testify. How do you not follow up with "Are you admitting to tampering?"

Edited June 26, 2017 by ganesh

[iMonrey]

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People take McCarthy seriously unfortunately. 

Who? And why?

I loved when he called out the congressman who said a link couldn't be disproved and Ollie called bullshit on disproving a negative. "We can't disprove he fucked a donkey. There's no evidence he did but we can't disprove it either." LOL.

[vibeology]

Anti-vaxxers just infuriate me. I get that being a parent is scary and there are so many difficult choices to make but at the end of the day in the west more children live to be adults now than ever before because of vaccines. That's it. Kids don't die of measles or smallpox or whooping cough. And that's been going on for long enough that people have forgotten what it was like when kids did. I'm too young to remember, but I bet it was awful and I don't need to gain first hand experience on the topic.

[scarynikki12]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Who? And why?

Jenny McCarthy.  She's the face of the anti-vaxxers and is considered an expert on the "link" between vaccines and Autism because...wait for it...she gave birth.  That's the extent of her qualifications.  She's beloved by anti-vaxxers who give more credence to her anecdotal evidence than scientists who have the degrees and conduct the studies.  Because the scientists are getting paid in the course of their research so can't be trusted but please ignore all the money McCarthy and Wakefield have raked in by being deniers.

Anyway, keeping her out of it keeps the segment from getting derailed and probably pisses her off since she loves the publicity associated with being a denier.

[Brandi Maxxxx]

I think iMonrey meant "Who takes her seriously? Why her of all people?"

Edited June 27, 2017 by Brandi Maxxxx

[mojoween]

Donkey fucker as an insult is brilliant.

My son loves trains so apparently we need to move to Scranton.

I would like to think when Drumpf was going on and being an idiot at that one debate about vaccines that Ben Carson was thinking what a moron Drumpf is and then I remembered that it was Ben Carson, and he was probably sleeping.

I feel like RFK would be disappointed in his son having that viewpoint.

[scarynikki12]

30 minutes ago, Brandi Maxxxx said:

I think iMonrey meant "Who takes her seriously? Why her of all people?"

That makes more sense and I have no idea why they settled on her. 

[Hanahope]

On the one hand I thought people who don't vax their kids are just doing the rest of the world a favor by culling their own herd of other anti-vaxxers .  I didn't realize how much harm they could do to other kids who, for whatever reason, can't get vaxxed at certain times.  That's criminal imo, recklessly causing harm to another, akin to drunk driving.

 

oh and trump, maybe you're not stupid, you're an imbecile.

Edited June 27, 2017 by Hanahope

[purist]

6 hours ago, vibeology said:

I get that being a parent is scary and there are so many difficult choices to make

I really liked that Ollie kept on coming back to this point, no doubt because he is now a parent. How adorable was that photo of him and his baby??

[monakane]

21 hours ago, vibeology said:

Anti-vaxxers just infuriate me. I get that being a parent is scary and there are so many difficult choices to make but at the end of the day in the west more children live to be adults now than ever before because of vaccines. That's it. Kids don't die of measles or smallpox or whooping cough. And that's been going on for long enough that people have forgotten what it was like when kids did. I'm too young to remember, but I bet it was awful and I don't need to gain first hand experience on the topic.

There was a documentary on PBS a couple of years ago about vaccines.  It showed a baby who still too young to be vaccinated suffering from whooping cough.  It was heartbreaking to watch.  The point of the segment was about the importance of herd immunity.  I am old enough to remember how sick my brother was with measles.  It was not pretty.  Read the life story of actress Gene Tierney and the effect German measles had on her life.  I'm so glad these vaccines now exist.

Kudos to John for tackling this subject.

[attica]

I find myself wondering about the people, including Wakefield, still pushing the anti-vaxx message. If they're now targeting (and I'm choosing that word purposefully) immigrant communities like the Michigan Somalis, it's hard not to draw the conclusion that they know they're the agents of illness for that community. Are they trying to cull those particular herds? 

[paigow]

Why would Somali immigrants - smart enough to survive civil war, poverty and other hardships - listen to / follow an idiot like Wakefield? 

[Jersey Guy 87]

On 6/26/2017 at 0:22 AM, Lantern7 said:

Also: There is stuff to do in Scranton, PA, right? Don't they have a Yankees' minor league team? Rally around that, not a model train set.

 

My son plays in a basketball tournament in Scranton every spring.  Next year I'll be sure to watch for the train.  There isn't that much more to do in Scranton.

19 hours ago, paigow said:

Why would Somali immigrants - smart enough to survive civil war, poverty and other hardships - listen to / follow an idiot like Wakefield? 

There was a cluster of autism among Somali children in 2008 in Minnesota.  Scum like Wakefield zoomed in and played up the whole (bullshit) vaccines cause autism stuff and, as a result, the Somali community there became afraid of vaccinations.

My wife had concerns about vaccinations.  We paid extra to order separate measles, mumps and rubella vaccines instead of the all in one MMR shot for our son.  He was still vaccinated on roughly the normal schedule.  He had, of course, no ill effects from the vaccines.  Nor would he had he had a regular MMR shot but as long as he was vaccinated I wasn't going to fight my wife that hard on it.

[12catcrazy]

There's an anti-vax thing going around on Facebook right now.  An idiot friend of mine "shared" it with me and the rest of her FB friends.  Her brother and sister are also anti-vaxxers.  I also have a co-worker who sadly has a very autistic son and she blames his condition on vaccines.  I've tried to talk to her about her stance but her mind is made up.  

The rise in autism rates is a frightening thing.  It seems that very few families are untouched by this now.  Part of it may be due to the increase in actually labeling autism  as opposed to kids who were "different" being defined as "retarded" or mentally ill, or just weird or eccentric.  Looking back on it, my ex-husband's younger sister was more than likely "on the spectrum".   At least today, once a child is recognized as being autistic, they can start with early intervention programs and special schooling if needed and these kids can grow up to be productive members of society.    Still, I've seen firsthand the toll that having an autistic child takes on a family and also the cost to the taxpayers.  Rather than focusing on this nonsense with vaccines, it's time to move on and figure out what is REALLY going on (which I wouldn't doubt there is some environmental factor at play).