Christie clarifies comments on measles vaccine, calls for ‘balance’

[Razgovory]

Yes, perhaps the fact that you have no ex-cathedra authority here is hampering your style?

I doubt it.  I don't have ex-cathedra authority anywhere, so here is no different.

Well except from the school.

[grumbler]

Perhaps the issue is your communication style?

It does seem to over-estimate the audience here.  Maybe I have a hard time transitioning from discussing issues with high school sophomores and then stepping things down so that Languishites can get those points as well.  :shrug:  I can live with it.

You're one of the forum superbosses.  Once a poster has managed to unlock Garbon the Cunt and Hurricane Berkut, they get to you.  Gotta press SAVE before entering a grumbler thread.

  Thank you for being one of the posters who makes this place fun.

[grumbler]

The scientists and researchers over at HHS must be comforted by the fact that, of the 1-in-600,000 chance of an allergic reaction to a vaccine, somebody's got a vice-like grip on that 1 event and goddammit, he's not letting go of it for shit.

Oh!  Look!  It's a made-up number on languish!  It's been 0.62 posts since the last spotting.

[CountDeMoney]

The scientists and researchers over at HHS must be comforted by the fact that, of the 1-in-600,000 chance of an allergic reaction to a vaccine, somebody's got a vice-like grip on that 1 event and goddammit, he's not letting go of it for shit.

Oh!  Look!  It's a made-up number on languish!  It's been 0.62 posts since the last spotting.

That may be, but one is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.

[DGuller]

Now Rand Paul claims that he wasn't alleging causation between vaccines and profound mental disorders, he was just alleging temporal correlation.  He just added a non sequitur for the heck of it, I guess.     Is that the best story he could come up with?

[Razgovory]

Well it's better then Santorum saying ""I don't want to make Blah people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money."  I fully accept that it's possible that Rand Paul is completly insane and that he adds non sequitus to end of his sentences.

[dps]

Meanwhile, Dr. Ben Carson - another potential GOP candidate - has weighed in:

“Although I strongly believe in individual rights and the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit, I also recognize that public health and public safety are extremely important in our society,” Carson told The Hill in a statement.

“Certain communicable diseases have been largely eradicated by immunization policies in this country and we should not allow those diseases to return by foregoing safe immunization programs, for philosophical, religious or other reasons when we have the means to eradicate them,” he added.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/dr-ben-carson-weighs-in-on-the-vaccination-debate/

See, that's a reasonable position. 

Now that I've switched my party affiliation to Republican, I have no idea who I'm going to support in the primaries in 2016, but this guy's stock just went up a bit in my eyes, and Christie's and Paul's has gone down (not that Rand Paul, in particular, ever had much chance of getting my vote in the primary).

[Sheilbh]

A few years ago they spoke about the fear with the vaccines that was building over fears of autism and were a bit sympathetic with parents as it was a huge fear not too long ago. But like I said, back then the newer studies may not have been out so your point is valid in that they were speaking about what the fear was with the vaccines. New studies have shown the fears to be unfounded but some parents still won't get the vaccines for their kids.

Yeah but the quote from Obama about people's concerns and sympathy followed on to this line 'I am not for selective vaccination, I believe that it will bring back deadly diseases, like polio.' And the anti-vac people weren't terribly keen on it:
http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/09/obama-i-am-not.html

What I mean about worrying if this becomes a thing for the GOP isn't that it'll be 'war on x' but that it'll get consumed into general culture war insanity. So far, to the extent it's political, the anti-vaccination hotspots are LA, Portland and Vermont. If it gets put into a narrative with liberals and scientists on one side that may change.

[Admiral Yi]

the anti-vaccination hotspots are LA, Portland and Vermont

Democratic bastions. 

[DGuller]

the anti-vaccination hotspots are LA, Portland and Vermont

Democratic bastions. 

Well, Republicans can't monopolize every single astonishingly stupid position.

[Sheilbh]

Democratic bastions. 

Indeed. This is the knit your own granola and alternative medicine crowd who are always a curse, but a containable one, but that could change if there's any perception of this being politicised

[Razgovory]

They are also more libertarian.

[Admiral Yi]

Indeed. This is the knit your own granola and alternative medicine crowd who are always a curse, but a containable one, but that could change if there's any perception of this being politicised

On a vaguely related note, had you read that some Yuro countries have started planting GM crops?

[Sheilbh]

I hadn't. We've had a few experimental fields in the UK for a while. Is it on a larger scale?

[Admiral Yi]

I hadn't. We've had a few experimental fields in the UK for a while. Is it on a larger scale?

It was one of those little news bulletin things in the front of The Economist, and I didn't pay close attention to the particulars, but it seemed to be more than research.  I think each country can choose for itself, and the item mentioned Spain as having gone ahead.