Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Anti vax liars

The title was first used by Peter bowditch who has the Ratbags site. I just stole it for awhile. Below is a letter I sent to someone who wrote me raising hell about vaccinating children against deadly childhood disease
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The arguments that you use, which are the ones heard most from the activist community are not only wrong, they are dangerously wrong.

No one denies that mercury is an environmental concern, and has been since the early 1800s since the British recognized “Mad Hatter” disease. However, on the list of environmental concerns, thimerisol mercury falls somewhere toward the bottom of the list, if not at the very bottom.

To a physician the symptoms presented by mercury poisoning and diseases attributed to mercury, such as autism, as so different as to be from different planets. There is absolutely no confusing the two. Not only that, but mercury, as encountered in the environment, has varying degrees of toxicity. Elemental mercury is pretty non-toxic, as evidenced by the fact that children used to break thermometers in their mouths and swallow the mercury at the rate of several thousand a year. There was never a case of mercury poisoning and the treating physicians were far more concerned with the broken glass than the mercury. A typical thermometer contained 100,000 times as much mercury as a vaccination.

Mercury vapor is moderately toxic. If you were to inhale the contents of a broken mercury bulb it would be wise to obtain prompt medical treatment.

Methyl mercury, formed by the anaerobic metabolism of certain bacteria in (mostly) marine sediments is highly toxic, and there have been numerous deaths, however, it can be treated medically, with a very good chance of success, if diagnosed early. (All of the arguments used in the arguments against vaccines are using the toxicity data from methyl mercury.)

The metabolic end of ethyl mercury (which is what happens with thimerisol) is not particularly toxic at all. In fact, it is excreted from the body so quickly that until very recently it had not even been measured accurately.

In our community, two small coal fired power plants are estimated to release 75 pounds of mercury per year – almost all as a vapor. This alone is sufficient to produce 500 billion doses of thimerisol per year … and this is only a small source – and there are no reported health effects, although there is concern that low-level effects might be there at rates where they cannot be separated from the background noise.

This is a site that you should read, written by a physician http://oracknows.blogspot.com/2005/06/saloncom-flushes-its-credibility-down.html … there are many, many others out there available to you, which not only disprove the idea of thimerisol/disease links, but large scale experiments have actually been carried out. Canada and Denmark for instance removed the preservative before the US. In both those countries there has been no change in disease rates. On the other hand, when the Japanese vaccination rate of vaccination for pertussis (whooping cough) fell because of unfounded fears of the vaccine, rates of both morbidity and mortality from pertussis increased back to pre-1950s levels within two years.

So while I agree that environmental toxins should be addressed, the use of thimerisol in vaccines is not a problem that needs addressing. The time and energy of those in the activist community could be far better spent on one of many other issues.

The Missouri Law, which you read about in Missouri Leadership, was both silly and unneeded, and potentially dangerous, because there are vaccines, where substitutes for thimerisol are not appropriate. Some single dose vaccines are available, but at greatly increased cost.

Sunday, June 26, 2005

A Note to the Zoo Director

Dear Mike,

I am writing to you out of my concern for a terrible mistake the zoo has made which my preacher pointed out at Wed Prayer Meeting.

We were praying about God’s Holy Work, and how every word in it came from God Himself, and how He instructed us not to add or subtract from it not so much as a jot or tittle. (although, I admit to not knowing what a jot or for that matter, a tittle, is). Your zoo does a fairly good job of showing off cute animals like baby giraffes and meerkats, but fails to say that these were created by God on the fourth or fifth day (He’s a little unclear on that point.)

But what troubles me and Dr. Shiver Metimbers, my preacher, is that you house bats and birds in separate exhibits, as if they were different, like those Godless, atheist, biologists say they are –sneakily implying that that demon himself, Charles Darwin was right. The preacher pointed out that it says right in Leviticus 11:19 that bats are birds. As you can tell my Christian sensibilities are offended and I expect an immediate correction, by housing the bats with the birds.

There are two alternatives if you choose not to accomplish this task right away. I can go to my friends at the Discovery Institute and point out that zoos are required to give the taxpaying public the best information they can about giraffes, meerkats, birds and bats. And that failure to house the birds and bats together might be your opinion, however, it is offensive to large segments of our community who have a different opinion. Failure to give birds and bats an equal display is a state-sponsored religious view on your own beliefs and it will not stand in court.

The second option is merely to pray for your filthy, beer-sodden, atheist, scumbag, liberal, atheist (have I mentioned that yet?), God-hating, evolution-loving body to rot in Hell for all eternity.

I remain faithfully your friend,
Jack (Class of 1345, Kansas State School)

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Jeb/Schiavo

It now appears that Dubya is the smart brother.

Monday, June 20, 2005

Abstinance Pledges

The fundies love them .. think that they actually work.

I did not take an abstinance pledge in high school.

All the girls I knew took an abstinance pledge from having sex with me.

A curse on all of them.

An American Hero

I went to Branson Friday. Since I was going to the Grand Palace I made the BIG mistake of going in on 76 rather than taking the back roads. As Jim Stafford says, Branson is an old indian word for bumper-to-bumper --- forever. If the fundies want to talk about eternity -- we got it, just south of town.

I went down to see old pal Jim Bohannon do his radio show. Typically, I avoid these vets thingys like the plague. Too many old men lying to each other, getting all weepy, and just downright obnoxious drunk. (Why wern't there any truck drivers or cooks in Vietnam anyway? Why did all these guys spend all their time out in the swamps and bayous, getting shot at by an unseen gook, or Charlie or slope -- oops, sorry, wrong war -- that was Korea.)

But two special things did happen. I met a Medal of Honor winner. I had met two before (and there are only about 350 living), but this is the first time I had actually ever seen the Medal. It was very impressive, even to me, who isn't impressed by much of anything anymore. But even more impressive was the story of the guy who was wearing it.

He was a medic, treating some wounded during a fight. A North Vietnamese grenade landed next to him and he threw himself on it. In most cases, that would be the end of the story. No vet to attend events in Branson and soak up the joys of the Baldnobbers comedy. But it didn't go off. So he picked it up and threw it away. Yep, you guessed it. It went off then.

I will put up a photo on my picture page here as soon as the film lab ruins what is undoubtedly a great shot.

The second was a guy who was in a R4-D reconnaissance fighter. His only armament was a .38 chief special with five rounds. He spent six years in the Hanoi Hilton. There were two really dangerous jobs for airplane drivers. Flying recon missions, and flying the Wild Weasels. My hat is off to both types.

Friday, June 17, 2005

I sold my daughter on eBay for $12.50

But she is 53 …

Billy’s are younger and smarter so they should get at least $20 …

Mantei has so many he can retire …


When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment. (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT)

I love God’s word, just like the Christians in the Rupuglie party do …

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Bloggers

There was a "meeting" of the Springfield Bloggers last night. As usual Ron Davis was a no-show ... geeeezzzeeee . you'd thunk someone was going to stick him with the bar tab. OK, maybe there were plans for that, but it was all in good humor.

Andy Cline made a Podcast of a part of it that you can find here and listen to my melifluous voice. Cripes, I sound more like a hillbilly than Les from Pleasent Hope.

These people are very knowledgeable and a lot of fun .. for a bunch of geeks, anyway. I am going to have to think all month to come up with a "stump-the-teacher" question for next time.

At any rate, listen to the podcast, view the photo, get out a barf bag ...

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

The really disgusting Bugman

In case you had any doubts about the disgusting Tom DeLay or his buttboy, Roy Blunt (R-Billy'sBoyToyRoy) read THIS.

Friday, June 03, 2005

Fetus Federline Rips Mommy a New One

Over that stinker of a TV show.

Read it here.

Queen B is starting to realize that she should have been named Rosemary.
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