I hope the hullabaloo about measles and vaccination soon turns to what I consider the elephant in the room. Even though the inviolable sanctity of an individual’s physical body is a significant issue, and the conflict between that and the compelling aspect of the social contract re: the collective good/public health is unlikely to be resolved any time soon; the biggest issue we could effectively control is being ignored, possibly suppressed.
I’m not against vaccination. I don’t know anyone well who has children who is. So perhaps my perspective is skewed. But after my own review of the research, it appears to me the only medical problem with vaccination using dead organisms is the unintended effects caused by additives and preservatives used in the carrier fluid.
The studies “proving” the lack of connection between vaccination and negative effects such as neurological damage appear to have used fresh and uncontaminated vaccines.
Corporations that manufacture these things cut costs by using toxic preservatives like thimerosal which contains mercury ( I have been told this particular preservative was removed from many but not all vaccines). The carrier fluid can contain multiple substances that are well known toxins and allergens.
Instead of making a witch-hunt for the anti-vaccine people, it would seem more logical and sensible to simply regulate the manufacturing of vaccines to eliminate all nonessential substances, specifically all toxic or allergenic substances.
With a pure, “killed” vaccine the worst reactions should be minor except in extremely rare circumstances.
Instead we have hysteria and propaganda making certain “types” of people out to be villains just for being concerned for their children.
I think we need to pay attention to the purposeful division of Americans into opposing camps on everything. We need to get past this tendency to vilify and caricature those who think or feel differently than we do.
The only issue with that kind of stark import is environmental destruction. If our species goes extinct all other disputes immediately become pointless-or actually non-existent since no one will exist to disagree!
But even then hatred, nastiness, and oppositional language is counterproductive.
Until we learn to work together again measles is the least of our worries. As distressing as losing your child is (I know all too well unfortunately); it cannot compare to losing your only life sustaining planet or your entire species.
When we listen to one another and actually count all voices respectfully as in consensus governance, amazing creative solutions are frequently the result.
Blessings,
ohnwentsya
Laura Flanders | David Harvey: Looking Toward a Moneyless Economy and Sleeping Well at Night
Laura Flanders, Truthout: Author and professor David Harvey speaks with Laura Flanders on some of the contradictions of capitalism, the loss of meaningful jobs and possible alternatives to the current social and economic system.
Read the Interview and Watch the Video
Wheeler to Take Title II Route in Net Neutrality Proposal
Mike Ludwig, Truthout: Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler is expected to propose regulating the internet more like a public utility, a move that activists argue is the only way to establish strong net neutrality rules that will stand up to court challenges from the broadband industry.
Jesse Hagopian: “I Was Pepper-Sprayed by Seattle Police on MLK Day”
Jesse Hagopian, The Nation: “I still don’t know how to talk to my kids about what happened. What do I have to do so that when my sons have grown up and recall the 63rd annual MLK Day celebration, it is about remembering past trials of injustice rather than endlessly reliving them?”
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Martin Kirk, Truthout: The UN, large corporations and NGOs want us to believe that poverty has been halved in the last 15 years and can be eradicated by 2030. Are their claims justified, and their motivations pure?
Wildlife Conservation Efforts Are Violating Tribal Peoples’ Rights
Stephen Corry, Truthout: Conservation is failing to achieve its stated objectives, partly because it routinely violates tribal peoples’ rights. From tiger reserves in India, to ancestral forests in Cameroon, the work of conservation organizations like the World Wildlife Fund is forcing indigenous peoples off their land in the name of protecting nature.
The Super-Rich Can’t Hide From the Rest of Us
Michael Winship, Moyers & Company: The rich are getting ready to run away from the mess they’ve helped create. The wealthy hedge fund managers buying up remote retreats far from the madding crowd shouldn’t be hiding out of fear. They should be hiding out of shame.
Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!: Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste has been released from an Egyptian prison after 400 days behind bars. Greste and two of his Al Jazeera colleagues, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, were convicted on terrorism charges in a case widely denounced as a sham.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
Fracking Industry Showdown Preceding Stricter Fugitive Emissions Ordinances in Mansfield, Texas
Julie Dermansky, DeSmogBlog: The issue of fugitive emissions is one of the reasons that the Mansfield City Council is struggling with how to handle a request from another oil and gas company, Edge Resources, to renew an expired permit. Approving the permit would allow Edge Resources to pursue fracking in a neighborhood.
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What Is the Houthi Takeover in Yemen About?
Lizabeth Paulat, Care2: In just under two weeks, Yemen has been plunged into chaos that, analysts are saying, could change the face of the nation forever. It started on January 22 when Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi resigned amid pressure from Houthi rebel forces.
Unbought Slate Wins Against Democrats-for-Chevron
Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes: It’s not often that a city council race in a city of 100,000 draws national attention. It happened in Richmond, California, this past fall, because one big corporation was so shameless in its open attempt to buy the election.
On the News With Thom Hartmann: Obama Administration Releases Plan for Offshore Drilling, and More
In today‘s On the News segment: The Obama administration proposes opening up new areas along our coastline to fossil fuel extraction; Maine may be stuck with Gov. Paul LePage for another four years, but at least the state’s got a coal-free university system; North Dakota’s oil industry is tired of all those pesky regulations; and more.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
BuzzFlash
Massive Deaths in Border Desert Caused by US Immigration Policy
Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: The situation is a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe, and US government border enforcement strategy is directly implicated in the dramatic increase in attempted Mexican border crossing deaths.
American SniperTakes a Shot at History and Turns It Into Deadly Jingoism
The United States’ Real National Security Budget: A Trillion Dollars a Year
Vaccination Debate Flares in GOP Presidential Race, Alarming Medical Experts
Read the Article at The Washington Post
How the Roberts Supreme Court Has Strengthened the Powerful and Screwed Everyone Else
Read the Article at The Nation
Leader of War Crimes Inquiry Into 2014 Gaza Conflict Resigns
Read the Article at The New York Times
Charles P. Pierce: The President Picks a Fight Over the Budget
The Real Reason the US Military Was So Secretive About Afghanistan
Spirit In Action 