Measles Emergency.

With the pertussis epidemic of 2010 behind us, the public health community is scrambling for some new contrivance with which to scare the American public. They appear to have found it. Their latest propaganda efforts surround a few cases of measles scattered across the nation. To rational human beings it's the measles; to the public health community it's "an emergency"

Yesterday I posted a little comment on a story out of Iowa in which it was reported public health fanatics were declaring an "emergency" over one, yes one, case of the measles. I thought that was the end of it until I saw a story even more absurd than the original. It began with the same news reported yesterday:

State health officials declared a “public health emergency” Tuesday after a test confirmed a case of measles in an unvaccinated Dallas County baby who apparently picked up the disease in India.

The piece then went from humorous to absurd with a statement that is among the most ridiculous I've ever come across; and it comes from a doctor: the person parents are told to talk for unbiased credible answers about vaccination. Anyway here's (witch?) doctor Patricia Quinlisk on the measles:

 “I get asked by medical students, ‘Which disease are you most afraid of?' And they expect me to say Ebola or SARS or something like that – but, it’s measles,” she said. “I don’t think people understand how bad it can be, how many people can get seriously ill and, unfortunately, how many people can die from this disease. It’s bad and it’s probably the most spreadable disease we have in our society.”

Nothing could be farther from the truth. In the pre-vaccine era, there were three to four million cases of the measles each year with only about four hundred and fifty reported deaths. And those deaths likely occurred in a subset of the population that were at increased vulnerability due to nutritional deficiencies or inadequate living conditions. The fact that naive medical school students are subjected to fabrications such as the one put forth by doctor Quinlisk perhaps explains the fanaticism that drives some pediatricians to discharge patients who decline the vaccine for this mild illness.

Those who were parents back when the measles was prevalent didn't think much of the illness and saw it as just another part of childhood. Much like those of us who've gone through the chickenpox with our own children. This fact is however antithetical to Quinlisk's goal of fear mongering so, in the same story, she's reported as engaging in this odd attempt at historical revisionism:

Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, medical director for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said many Americans falsely recall measles as a benign childhood illness.

Quinlisk's attempt to redefine the past to serve her establishment is eerily is reminiscent of the tactics used by the totalitarian regime portrayed in George Orwell's novel 1984. "The Party," as it was called, famously believed that the past needed to be recreated in a way to serve the needs and desires of the regime. (The novel's famous quote "Those who control the past control the future" summarizes that philosophy) But sadly for the good doctor her assertion about America's experience with the measles is as fictitious as Orwell's novel. Unfortunately, for readers of the Register, the fiction continues with this statement:

Two to three people die out of every 1,000 who come down with the disease, health authorities say.

We did two pieces on this recently bandied-about statistic, debunking it here and showing the CDC can quote no basis for it here.

The piece winds down revealing:

Most Iowans are either vaccinated against measles or are immune because they had it as children.

So what's the emergency then? The rational person, not having a vested interest in either  vaccines or the promotion of an irrational fear of infectious illnesses, would say there is none. But the vested interest driving this story are not interested in the truth, they're interested in advancing an agenda that solidifies their power and reinforces a system upon which they depend. This story of a measles "emergency" and the blatant attempts at historical revisionism further demonstrate that the entire vaccine program is simply a contrivance built to serve the needs, not of us, but of the Machine and those who comprise it.

Dr Wendy's Washington

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens 

unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments. 

George Washington

In the state named after a great champion of freedom, freedom has just suffered a chilling setback. Parents who choose not to vaccinate their children will now be forced to attend meetings with medical professionals designed to harass them into accepting unwanted vaccines. Reminiscent of Chairman Mao's reeducation camps, these meeting are finding great favor among the community of do-gooders comprising the public health and medical establishments.

One who is particularly enamoured with the new law is Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson, a.k.a. Seattle Moma Doc,

a pediatrician and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s school of Bioethics, home of vaccine cheerleader Art Kaplan. She's taken the time to write a blog post celebrating the type of nanny state progressivism that would have George Washington spinning in his grave

I stumbled upon it when I ventured into that viper’s nest of vaccine extremism, Vaccinate Your Baby!

Anyway Dr. Swanson begins:

Yesterday Governor Gregoire signed a new bill into law that will demand families talk with a health care worker about the risks when exempting from immunizations

How nice. In Dr. Swanson's police state utopia, the government can demand parents subject themselves to harassment from the propagandists of a public health apparatus dependant upon vaccination.

Swanson then, perhaps to create an imaginary crisis from which the state must save us, employs the common trick popular among the vaccine establishment of pretending that numbers appearing significant on a relative basis are meaningful in absolute terms. She warns:

In the last 10 years there has been a doubling in the number of students with exemptions for vaccinations in our schools. 

Yes, that may be true; exemptions may climb from 2,000 to 6,000 (the press release only gives percentages not actual numbers so 2,000 to 6,000 is a guess extrapolated from California exemption data) over a ten year period - in a population of millions - but rates overall may increase due to various factors including state funding, vaccine campaigns and public heath outreach.

But what if rising exemptions mean more parents are becoming aware of the scam behind vaccination and are deciding not to participate. For a Machine whose existence is predicated upon such a scam, dissent of this nature cannot be tolerated and must be extinguished at first sign.

To that end, Dr Swanson then descends into wild speculation to advance her rickety case in support of these browbeating sessions, stating:

The biggest reason [for exemptions] may be a convenience factor. 

And that's based on what exactly? She offers no evidence, even though, in today’s blogosphere, links to support statements are quite easy to incorporate into one’s work. Maybe she just made it up? Regardless, what she does do is use the weasel word may which can be used to say anything regardless of the facts.

Weasel words are important components of the Machine’s propaganda efforts and in this case Dr. Wendy Sue employs the weasel word may with great alacrity. But in reality, with no evidence, "convenience" may either be the biggest reason or "convenience" may not be the biggest reason.

Perhaps she feels the public will be more amenable to being led around by the nose if she can sketch the debate in terms of irresponsible parents to busy to take the time to get their life saving vaccines

Or maybe parents, rather than being lazy and stupid like the establishment imagines us to be, just realize despite the millions spend hyping vaccines those vaccines aren’t very important.

But wait here comes her defense of her position

The state suggests that 95% of exemptions are not for a medical reason, but one for convenience.

Ah yes, an unsubstantiated “suggestion” by the state. Wonderful. We’d be crazy not to believe anything the state “suggests” because they have our best interest at heart and because they have no vested interest in maintaining high levels of unwanted vaccination.

Her limited grasp of the vaccination issue (and fixation on the imagined convenience factor) then leads her to state:

Seems like you’d never opt out of immunizations for convenience putting your child or another child at risk.

But as readers of this blog are well aware, not vaccinating cannot put anyone at risk. Infectious agents predate vaccines; therefore one can only protect against, not create, risks because, again, those risks have always existed. As a parent you do have the responsibility to protect your child (not the children of others) so then the issue becomes protect from what: potentially risky medical interventions or mild illnesses that used to be part of growing up. I think I’ll let parents, not the police state, decide which is more worrisome.

Me and the CDC

While writing last weeks post on Forbes magazine's infatuation with vaccination, I came across a statistic (wildly inconsistent the the current body of scientific evidence) that's bandied about endlessly in the vaccine community: as many as 1 out of every 500 contracting the measles will die from it. In the piece, I speculated as to where it's origin lie but it was only speculation. I decided to contact the CDC and wrote:

Your site makes this claim:

 For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die.

What is the basis for this number? In the pre-vaccine era ~450 deaths occurred out of 3-4 million cases. That's far fewer that 1 or 2 deaths per thousand.

To their credit, they responded promptly, proffering this "answer":

Measles can have more serious effects and complications on children, especially children less than 5 years of age, than on younger adults. Pneumonia, which is more common in children, is responsible for approximately 60 percent of deaths. It is estimated that 1 out of every 1,000 children with measles will die. In the pre-vaccine era in the US, approximately 3 to 4 million cases occurred each year, but not all cases occurred in children. So, one would expect the mortality rate to be lower than 1 per thousand.

Very nice, but I don't actual see an answer to my question in the text. Do you? Was my question confusing or unclear? I don't think so.

But let's eliminate some extranious material to examine the question's clarity. Stripped down, the dialogue goes something like this:

Robert: What's the basis for the claim "for every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die."

CDC: It is estimated that 1 out of every 1,000 children with measles will die

No, the question was clear; maybe they were just avoiding it. Or maybe they don't even know their own sources. Neither is a glowing reflection on the agency. But I really was hoping for an answer considering the "statistic's" popularity within the vaccination community. Anyway it's no big deal. It's a point that can be easily refuted with citable evidence. And I'm sure one day, a source or rationale will emerge. 

More troubling than this unsatisfying response was the thought that some would have to deal with the CDC or another government agency to provide answers regarding questions of much greater importance - such as those involving vaccine injuries and their causes. What would those people do and what recourse would they have? It's a sobering question and, in light of the bureaucratic, pro-vaccine nature of the establishment,  one I'm happy I'll never have to ask

Forbes: Magazine of the Machine

Forbes magazine and Forbes.com have become, over the past year, particularly active in dispensing establishment propaganda. I’ve come across a number of their pro-vaccine pieces in recent months but have not had the opportunity to comment. That is until now. Yesterday I came across an article by Steven Salzberg, a Professor and Director of the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Maryland, College Park, that was so absurd it demanded action.

Characteristic of Forbes reporting, the piece contains a slew of either unsubstantiated or patently false talking points.

The author begins by imagining that a few cases of the measles now appearing across the country are the product of an amorphous “anti-vaccine” movement. Unsurprisingly, he provides no evidence of such causality. (Vaccine propaganda requires only assertions not evidence)

Arguing against this theory are record high vaccination rates and the fact that, since the introduction of vaccinations, there have always been sporadic cases of vaccine preventable illness, “anti-vaccination movement” or not.

Unless there were a 100% vaccination rate, no one too young to be vaccinated, no travel and vaccines that were perfectly effective, sporadic cases of infectious illnesses will occur. Besides, not everyone who is unvaccinated is under the spell of the anti-vaccine movement.

Moving along, the author goes on to parrot the Machine talking point that the “measles is a dangerous …virus,” employing, to support his assertion, an unsubstantiated CDC claim that:

“For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die.”

The CDC provides no basis for the figure but they’re likely clinging to data obtained during a single US outbreak occurring in the 90s affecting a particularly unrepresentative and especially vulnerable population: the urban poor. Further, underreporting of cases was widespread during this outbreak, making the measles seem more formidable than they actually were.

As a matter of fact, in the pre-vaccine era out of 3-4 million cases only about ~450 deaths were reported. Additionally, a recent European outbreak to which Salzburg, in his piece, refers, shows one death occurring out of 6,500 cases. This is in line with other recent European outbreaks. Additionally, as mentioned previously, it’s well known that measles cases are widely underreported; so deaths are likely to occur in at a rate of even less than 1 per every five or six thousand cases.

It is upon this rickety foundation that Salzberg claims, in regards to the measles, “This is not a disease to take lightly.” But, as far as “diseases” go, the measles is one to be taken lightly. It’s hardly even worthy of being called a disease. In the pre-vaccine era, when kids got the measles, parents said their kid was sick. Not that he or she had a disease.

Salzberg’s attempts to paint the measles as “dangerous” is just another example of the Machine distorting language in order to create a false impression under which vaccination seems warrented.

His obsessive fondness for vaccination then compels him to lament:

California now has about 2% of parents refusing vaccines for their children for personal beliefs. This gaping hole in our public health system needs to be closed.

Calling a 2% personal belief exemption rate a “gaping hole” is nothing more than wild hyperbole. The sad fact is that (since there should be no such thing as a vaccine mandate) there is an exemption rate at all. As to the “gaping hole,” one does exist, but it is in regards to the gaping hole in a parent’s freedom to raise their children as they see fit and without the interference of a hyperactive public health apparatus.

Salzberg then turns to a common - yet absurd - talking point popular with vaccine peddlers: those who don’t vaccinate put others at risk.

…they [parents who don’t vaccinate] appear unconcerned about the risk they forcing on the rest of us…if parents refuse to vaccinate their children, they are putting the rest of us at risk, and these children need to be kept out of public schools.

As to putting you at or forcing risk upon you, the risk of infectious illness exists and has existed for thousands of years. No one forces it upon you. My not vaccinating simply denies you additional protection to which you have no right. It’s you, not I, who is responsible to protect yourself. Vaccines give you the means by which to do this.

In regards to keeping kids out of school, people, kids included have a right to reject unwanted medical interventions. This right does not stop at the schoolhouse door. If not for government interference in education, one would be free to attend whichever school one chose. Schools would be free to set their own requirements for admission. Vaccination could be among those requirements. Fans of vaccination such as Salzburg could attend those with rigid vaccination policies while others not so enamored with the practice could attend schools without a vaccination requirement. Unfortunately, government makes a scenario involving free choice impossible and therefore morally abrogates it’s right to set such vaccine requirements

Continuing, Salzburg claims:

Parents who follow this advice [not to vaccinate] rely on the immunization of others to protect their own children,

But we don’t rely on you to do anything. Stop vaccinating. I dare you. You vaccinate because you’re afraid of the mumps. I’m not. Besides, rely implies that I’d be in dire straits or I’d have to act without you. Neither is true.

His terror at being put at risk by unvaccinated children cavorting through schools continues:

They also neglect to consider that vaccines are never 100% effective, so even those of us who vaccinate our kids are still bearing a greater risk by allowing the unvaccinated to attend school.

 Yes, your risk is greater than if you had the right to have government thugs force unwanted vaccines on other people. But you don’t have that right so get over it. You just have the right to the protection you can obtain by your own voluntary actions; not actions forced upon others.

In conclusion, Salzburg floats the bizarre suggestion that: 

We could start by telling people to get vaccinated before they leave the country. If they refuse, we could require them to be tested for infections when they return.

He fails to comprehend is that people have rights and these rights supercede his personal desires. People, going about their everyday lives, cannot have their freedom violated. And freedom involves the right to travel without being poked with the vaccinators needle. It also includes the right not to be, unless probable cause exists, tested, examined and probed for signs of infectious illness.

Crazy ideas such as the one proffered by Salzberg warn us about what the police state of the future may look like. And we must be vigilant in resisting  such a regime. But more importantly we must begin to dismantle the hidden police which already exists and has as it's foundation  mandatory vaccination

Happy Easter to Everybunny!

Ode to Vaccination

Vaccines are great,
About that there can be no debate

They’re really quite the miracle,
Observe the evidence, it’s empirical

Were we to grant the right to choose
It’s the herd immunity we’d lose.

Fail to vaccinate against an illness that’s contagious?
That kind of talk is just outrageous!

Absent vaccines, the chickenpox would rage
Disability and death would seize center stage.

So if you want your schoolin’
Get your vaxes, we ain’t foolin’

And when we call for freedom of choice
They tell us were too vocal with our voice

There’s got to be balance they say
To allow vaccines to save the day

Heck that needle won’t hurt all,
Here, just take a little Tylenol

And those parents who report 3 hours of cryin’
Surely they must be lyin’

Religious exemption, don’t even try
We’ll challenge your faith till you comply

So get used to it my friends
This is where your freedom Ends

Religious Exemptions in New York

While researching the New York state religious exemption process for the piece on the Habakus / Patterson interview, I discover this little gem of a video on Youtube. It's funny, informative and sadly all too true

Vaccine Epidemic's Louise Habakus Talks with Governor David Patterson

Good interview with Louise Habakus. Be patient it takes a few minutes to get going. Ex-NY governor David Paterson does the interview and surprisingly he seems amazingly sympathetic to Louise's position (says he didn't take H1N1 vaccine and seems quite open to the idea that vaccines could cause autism and other developmental delays) But then it's rather bizarre that he was "running" the state while they were conduction inquisitions regarding vaccine exemptions. Does this mean the public health Machine has more power than our elected officials?

At the end, the interview becomes surreal as Patterson asks how listeners can get the book so they can make own vaccination choices while apparently, after years in the Governor's Mansion, unaware that parents,  in his state don't have vaccination choices.

Vaccination Cult Attempting to Censor the National Vaccine Information Center

It's come to my attention that the the link on the site encouraging the censorship of the NVIC was incorrect (info@cbsoutdoors.com.). There is no S at the end of outdoor. If you've sent an email I suggest you resend it to 

info@cbsoutdoor.com.

A group of die-hard vaccine fanatics are currently massing their resources to shut down an ad being run on the CBS JumboTron on Times Square by the National Vaccine Information Center and Dr. Joseph Mercola. We must respond

The ad encourages parents to know their rights when it comes to vaccination. Any information contrary to the controlled message of the Machine is seen as a huge threat to the establishment. Therefore, vaccine pushers and their supporters are they’re getting all their little scientist and wanna be scientist friends involved in a campaign and petition to silence the NVIC and any other voices not towing the vaccine party line. We’ve got to fight back! Let CBS know that censorship is unacceptable and that parents have the right to hear the other side of the story when it comes to vaccination. Please contact CBS outdoors - the group in owning the JumboTron - and repost this and encourage your contacts to tell CBS outdoors that censorship at the behest of the vaccine vested interests is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Contact information below.

Vaccine fan boy and blogger "Orac" seems to be spearheading the campaign. Details here:

This is where we need to respond with emails

info@cbsoutdoor.com

Finally this links to the vaccine cult's little censorship petition

Here's my response sent in an email to CBS:

Censorship campaign targeting CBS outdoors:


It's come to my attention that a number of internet groups with an unusual affection for vaccines are massing in an attempt to encourage your company to engage in a act of censorship by taking down an innocuous ad by the National Vaccine Information Center appearing on the CBS JumboTron on Times Square. The ad simply asks parents to learn about vaccines and become aware or their rights as it pertains to those medical treatments. The campaign represents an intolerance to any thought straying from the formulated message that no choices involving vaccination can be tolerated. I hope you'll see this fringe group of vaccine extremists for what they are and reject these absurd, unwarranted and anti-American attempts at censorship

When Do-Gooders Do Good

This story came in yesterday and reveals the sad little lives of those who's primary goal in life is to push unwanted vaccines on innocent children. Vaccine News Daily reported that:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention honored Connecticut for having the largest increase in the nation for teen immunization rates for certain vaccinations during a national conference in Washington, D.C., on Monday.

I can just imagine the little do-gooders scurrying to the stage to collect their little collect gold stars from their CDC icons. No doubt a little pat on the head and a hearty, "well done," accompanied the distribution of the golden stickers.

Jewel Mullen, the public health commissioner of Connecticut, even crowed about how the agency was so very proud of itself.

But don't think the department's road to fame was easy. Jewel and her underlings, with the undying support of the CDC, vaccine propaganda sites such as Every Child but Two and a coalition of vaccine vested interests, had to scratch and claw to achieve their glorious success.

A combination of compulsion, propaganda and asinine vaccination events and celebrations - yes that's right, vaccine "celebrations" - are employed with great skill in Connecticut . Compulsion is an indispensable tool in the vaccinator's arsenal. In Connecticut, like in all states,the threat of force that looms ominously over mothers from the day they give birth is used with great alacrity by vaccine-obsessed pediatricians (a group working in partnership with public health crusaders) who warn parents of daycare, summer camp and school mandates in order to garner the compliance of the reluctant. 

To make outright force less necessary, and to make vaccines seem like something parents would actually want Jewel and her department provide parents with  free - I mean tax payer funded - propaganda material such as the "book" Shots For Tots—The Importance of Immunization For Your Child, which, "clearly explains why immunization is important for every child." And don't think those who can't read are free from these propaganda-laden "books". Connecticut offers Guard Your Child's Health -- With Shots! (the exclamation point driving home the absolute necessity of these life-saving vaccines) a "very basic text" replete with "engaging illustrations" that "make for an effective way to promote childhood immunizations to parents for whom reading is a challenge."

In addition to the distribution of these propagand materials the department puts on a number of bizarre vaccine "events," most of these seem to target vulnerable, lower-income populations. These include:

“Walk For Shots"
Department Heads from the City of Hartford and other child health organizations will walk from City Hall to Bushnell Park promoting childhood immunization. [Wow, getting to see your favorite public health official in person! Can you feel the electricity?]

A National Infant Immunization Week celebation where "Participants will receive gift bags filled with immunization brochures [Immunization brochures as a gift? Only from the mind of public health could such a concept emerge], parent-held immunization record booklets, and baby gift items." [Trinkets and other free stuff seems to be an indispensible tool when taking advantage of the less well to do]

"Mother's Day Social" 

A "fun event" that "will feature an immunization presentation, Connecticut Immunization Registry and Tracking System bingo [Oh my, that does sound like fun], public health education for parents and preschoolers, giveaway bags [there's that free stuff again] , a raffle basket and refreshments.

Wow, what a lot of work. And what a big bureaucracy to carry out all that work. Makes me think this whole Machine is about a lot more than vaccines. Makes me think its about giving these vested interests a place to feel good about themselves, realize their delusions of grandeur, collect a paycheck and, maybe most importantly, expand their power over others.What's it make you think?