I swear my state is full of idiots...

[anakhouri]

I remember chicken pox parties too (I contracted it all on my own). And while it's true most kids escape chicken pox mostly unscathed, in some cases there can be dangerous complications.

At any rate I did get my kid the chicken pox vaccine; my case was pretty severe and it was MISERABLE. I would never want him to go through that if he didn't have too.

[draco664]

I don't think McCarthy is evil. I think she's just stupid. She had to have an answer as to why her kid has autism; now she has one and can claim to be an "activist."

If you read about what she's done to her child, you'd put a tick in the 'evil' column pretty quick.

She was convinced that the jab made her kid autistic. She blamed a substance called thimerosal for it. Then it turns out it wasn't present in the jab, hadn't been in any for years, so she changed her mind about the cause.

One of the "My opinion may have changed, but not the fact that I am right" brigade.

[fireheart17]

I always find it hilarious with the "educated" anti-vaccine folks, that they either cannot fathom, or do not have the knowledge of:

1) how the human immune system ACTUALLY works. The best analogy I can think of (and one that is commonly used) is that the immune system is like an army (well it is an army). In order for that army to be prepared against the enemy (bacteria/viruses), they need to know as much as they can about that enemy. So the vaccinations are provided, which provide some dead examples of the enemy for the army to study, kill and know how to kill off next time around. However, sometimes they forget, especially if there hasn't been an invasion in a while. So they need to refresh their memory.

2) A commonly-cited argument is "Big Pharma" somehow having links to the medical and scientific communities and paying them to say that vaccinations are OK. In some cases, this apparently goes all the way up to the Government. What makes it funny however, is that nobody can name which pharmaceutical company produces which vaccine, nor can they actively describe which elements of the vaccine cause harm.

3) Believing that their homeopathic cures are side-effect free, don't harm the body, or are what "nature" intended them to be. To them I say "HI! Have you met my friend colloidal silver? You'll be a marked man in no time!" (it turns your skin grey!) Also, they need to consider the side effects of pennyroyal and whatnot, since they can also abort your baby....

4) That sure it might be your "choice" to not vaccinate your children, but at the same time, it's also the government's choice to deny you certain rights.

[Duelist925]

I always find it hilarious with the "educated" anti-vaccine folks, that they either cannot fathom, or do not have the knowledge of:

1) how the human immune system ACTUALLY works. The best analogy I can think of (and one that is commonly used) is that the immune system is like an army (well it is an army). In order for that army to be prepared against the enemy (bacteria/viruses), they need to know as much as they can about that enemy. So the vaccinations are provided, which provide some dead examples of the enemy for the army to study, kill and know how to kill off next time around. However, sometimes they forget, especially if there hasn't been an invasion in a while. So they need to refresh their memory.

2) A commonly-cited argument is "Big Pharma" somehow having links to the medical and scientific communities and paying them to say that vaccinations are OK. In some cases, this apparently goes all the way up to the Government. What makes it funny however, is that nobody can name which pharmaceutical company produces which vaccine, nor can they actively describe which elements of the vaccine cause harm.

3) Believing that their homeopathic cures are side-effect free, don't harm the body, or are what "nature" intended them to be. To them I say "HI! Have you met my friend colloidal silver? You'll be a marked man in no time!" (it turns your skin grey!) Also, they need to consider the side effects of pennyroyal and whatnot, since they can also abort your baby....

4) That sure it might be your "choice" to not vaccinate your children, but at the same time, it's also the government's choice to deny you certain rights.

This this this this this. QFT. I freaking love anti-vaccine idiots. It's remarkably fun asking them simple questions and seeing their brains implode.

[BlaqueKatt]

If you read about what she's done to her child, you'd put a tick in the 'evil' column pretty quick.

Chelation therapy(one of the things she put her son through for years, at 2-4 sessions per month), is 100% unproven for anything other than metal toxicity(in an actual hospital this is done with calcium EDTA , the "treatment for autistics uses disodium EDTA plus various other substances), in autistic is claimed to "strip the body of metallic toxins", done 2-4x per month, at an UNLICENSED "medical" facility, risks include: (from http://www.quackwatch.com/01Quackery...chelation.html)

hypocalcemia leading to cardiac arrhythmias and tetany; kidney damage; decreased blood clotting ability with abnormal bleeding; thrombophlebitis and embolism; hypoglycemia and insulin shock; severe vasculitis and autoimmune related hemolytic anemia, dermatitis with pruritus and generalized eczema; and extensive clumping of platelets in the blood of some patients with atherosclerosis and other chronic diseases, and death.

An important theoretical consideration should also be considered. The trace metal most dramatically lost as a result of EDTA chelation is zinc. French researchers have found that 24 hours after an infusion of EDTA, the urine of human subjects contained 15 times the normal amount of zinc . Without replacement, the loss of this much zinc over the months during which 30 to 40 treatments are delivered will increase the potential for severe impairment of immune function, precancerous cellular mutations, loss in selective permeability of cell membranes and altered solubility of pancreatic insulin.

saying I'd rather my child risk ALL of that, EVERY WEEK(the risk is at every treatment), rather than have him be "not normal" Is PURE EVIL, I say this as a mother of a profoundly autistic child, who will never speak, or be able to care for himself.

The National Council Against Health Fraud believes that chelation therapy is unethical and should be banned and that chelation therapy of autistic children should be considered child abuse.

[Panacea]

I seem to remember that with chicken pox as a young child, I don't see the problem with that one, others though, that seems stupid.

Aside from the fact it can cause life threatening complications, it's a pretty miserable experience to go through. Why suffer when a vaccine can prevent or mediate the disease?

If you read about what she's done to her child, you'd put a tick in the 'evil' column pretty quick.

She's been so hysterical on the subject she can force herself to admit she is wrong. Still in the stupid rather than evil column, since I honestly don't believe she really wants to hurt her kids.

The National Council Against Health Fraud believes that chelation therapy is unethical and should be banned and that chelation therapy of autistic children should be considered child abuse.

Now on that we'll agree. It should be considered child abuse, and the so called practitioners should rot in hell for what they've done to these kids.

[draco664]

She's been so hysterical on the subject she can force herself to admit she is wrong. Still in the stupid rather than evil column, since I honestly don't believe she really wants to hurt her kids.

Well, she has no problem with forcibly groping and molesting an unwilling teenager on television because she thinks he's 'yummy'.

Stupid *and* Evil.

[Panacea]

Well, she has no problem with forcibly groping and molesting an unwilling teenager on television because she thinks he's 'yummy'.

Stupid *and* Evil.

Forgot about that. Good point. Stupid and Evil.