Bill Maher is such an illiterate scientific idiot!

[TZ]

I can't count how many factual mistakes there are in this "discussion" of his! I couldn't even finish it becasue I was about to explode:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/vaccination-a-conversatio_b_358578.html
Polio was dying off before the vaccine made it extinct? You cite the biggest woo-woo cite as your "trusted source"? You are claiming thatmercury, formaldehyde and insect repellent are in VACCINES? YOU BLEEPING LYING FUCKFACE!
God, I want to punch this man....
How come Polio only exists where people refuse to get vaccinated. And I guess the 36,000 people who die of influenza per year don't matter to you. Don't give me this crap about how influenza vaccines "don't confer immunity" either. AAARGH. This might be the STUPIDEST article I've seen sinc RFK,jr's Rolling Stone article. And go to hell Huffington Post for posting this crap which WILL lead to people dying. :banghead:

[trotsky]

1. What is it about the anti-vax nutters...

that the more they are ignorant about something, the firmer they dig in their heels?

He continues to push the (FALSE) belief that somehow having a "healthy immune system" by simply eating right is the best way to protect yourself. That is completely and utter disproven BULLSHIT. I never want to wish harm on someone, but with Maher's soapbox, I truly do wish he could come down with a nasty H1N1 infection that forced him into the hospital. Since surely he thinks his diet is perfect, he should have the most healthy immune system possible. Would that make him see the error of his ways, that ANYONE can be infected by a virus and it can be serious no matter how strong your immune system is? (In fact, given the "cytokine storm" phenomenon, he might even be setting himself up for a WORSE outcome.)

Ignorant dumbshit, and proud of it. Hooray Bill.

[LeftishBrit]

3. What really bothers me the most...

is the implication that people who do not have perfect immune systems, or have poor health in any way, are somehow at fault, and don't deserve any medical help for our needs. A Ms. Fisher complains about our (or America) becoming a society which depends on shots, as on drugs and surgery, to preserve health. In what fucking sense is that ANY different than the right fulminating about welfare benefits creating a 'culture of dependence' on 'government handouts' instead of forcing poor people to be 'self-reliant'??? 'Let them eat healthily!' can end up pretty similar to 'Let them eat cake!'

[trotsky]

4. Newsflash to Barbara Woo Fisher (and Bill Maher):

Plenty of our distant ancestors ate perfect diets. No preservatives, no added salt, no sugar, just natural fruits & veggies and some meat now and then.

Their life expectancy was about 25. They died from things like cancer, infections, viral illnesses, etc. You know, all the things that a healthy diet is supposed to present with a less favorable "breeding ground" as Maher likes to think of it.

So yeah, I guess we do depend on shots, drugs, and surgery. Without that incredible TECHNOLOGY we have invented, most of us would probably still die in childhood. What a nirvana we're missing out on!

There is one particular anti-vaxer on here that I've put on ignore because she basically advocates a form eugenic reasoning. HER family supposedly survived smallpox and polio back in the first half of the 20th century, so therefore she (and her precious brood) are more worthy than the weaker among us who would succumb to those (and other) diseases. I am convinced that most of the anti-vaxers who truly believe in the "movement" hold a similar position, even though they won't advocate it publicly. They are disgusted, like the worst conservative libertarians, by the "weak" among us that we coddle and allow to survive. (Not acknowledging, of course, that they could be just as weak, only protected by the rest of us.)

How can you reason with that? You can't.

[onager]

6. Send her overseas! Unvaccinated!

Speaking only of Egypt, where I lived, she can test that awesome immune system on...

Hepatitis A/B/C

Bird flu(s). Even though some idiot here on DU once opined that "nobody ever died of bird flu." At least 40-50 people died of it in Egypt, which even the govt. admitted. H5N1 caused a huge panic over there. Whole farms of chickens were slaughtered, people stopped buying chicken, etc. etc.

Cholera, typhoid, river blindness and a bunch more water-borne diseases I can't spell.

Tuberculosis.

Leprosy.

Malaria and other insect-borne diseases I also can't spell.

Oh, and rabies. I remember an Egyptian newspaper story about a bunch of kids waiting for the school bus who were attacked by a rabid dog. I think six or seven were bitten. Happily, none of them died.

But when I mention this stuff, I get patronized. Or attacked as a shill for Heartless Western Medicine.

Sometimes I feel like a DU'er over in the 9/11 threads. Some Twoofer posted: "How do we REALLY know airplanes destroyed the World Trade Center?" A NY DU'er responded: "Because I saw the fucking airplanes hit the World Trade Center."

[TZ]

7. Hell yes!

I'm so fucking tired of that I'm sick because its my fault (including our local troll who hasn't been around for a while). Thats part of what inspired my GD health care rant last week. I really really wanted to have to jab myself with a needle once a week..:eyes:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

2. I can't WAIT until Orac tears his stupid ass apart. Fuck him and fuck HuffPo and their "science"

reporting.

[TZ]

9. Here you go!

Fucking brilliant!
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/11/bill_maher_flames_out_over_vaccines.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogs%2Finsolence+%28Respectful+Insolence%29

[mr blur]

10. Fucking brilliant, indeed! (nt)

[Orrex]

5. My prediction

If you were to mention your complaint elsewhere, then about 24% of the replies would be along the lines of "he's a comedian, not a journalist," and 24% would be something like "he's on the right side more often than not."

The remaining 2% would agree with you and would quickly be attacked as Big Pharma shills.

[Warpy]

8. He needs to stick with his field

which is producing topically based comedy.

It sure as hell isn't medicine, which he needs to leave to people who have actually studied it.

He's just making the classic right wing mistake that says all opinions are created equally even when only one side is supported by actual, you know, facts.

[Dr. Strange]

11. He cracks me up on this position.

I agree with my critics who say there are far more qualified people than me -- its just that mainstream media rarely interviews doctors and scientists who present an alternative point of view. There is a movement to stop people from asking any questions about vaccines -- they're a miracle, that's it, debate over. I don't think its that simple, and neither do millions of other people. The British Medical Journal from August 25 says half the doctors and medical workers in the U.K. are not taking the flu shot -- are they all crazy too? Sixty-five percent of French people don't want it. Maybe its not as simple as the medical establishment wants to paint it.

I could almost respect that position if only he were consistent with it. I've seen him ream guests on his show who dare to suggest that there might be any scientists who disagree with global warming, or who say they don't believe in evolution. He won't have any of it. But on the topic of vaccines, all of a sudden, skepticism is a virtue.

[TZ]

12. Yeah he's conveniently ignoring the scientific consensus thing

He also leaves out the fact that the reason that they don't interview "skeptical" doctors and scientists is because the skeptics are RATHER OBVIOUS CRACKPOTS. When you have both scientific fact and consensus from the community in your corner, "debate" is irrelevant.
Proven science always trumps "opinion" which woos seem to ignore.

[ChadwickHenryWard]

13. Yeah, Maher's a weirdo.

He's is capable of using logic at times, but when he talks about vaccines and alternative medicine, it's like his brain falls out. I saw an episode where he interviewed Dennis Kucinich, and he made a claim about veganism that made DK look at him funny. That's quite a feat.

[Dr. Strange]

14. Pffth!

:rofl: :rofl:
Oh yeah, that's quote's going in my sigline!

[ChadwickHenryWard]

15. Uh, thank you.

I think the specific claim was that vegans never get sick, which would of course negate the need for Dennis to pursue alternative medicine, though it is my understanding that he wastes his money on that crap. Don't think though that I don't like either of them. I like Maher and used to watch his show when I got HBO (though I can't deny he's endangering lives with his anti-vax crap.) And I absolutely adore Dennis Kucinich. I think of him as the soul of the Democratic Party. He's tireless in his fight with our corporate overlords.

I appreciate your enjoyment of my turn of phrase, though. You're too kind.

[ralph m]

16. It's not just about vaccinations!

I've been a fan of Bill Maher since stand up comic days, and was a big fan of his network show "Politically Incorrect," ten years ago. Even then, it was pretty obvious that Maher is no John Stewart! Stewart is a comedian too....but he does his research before he starts spouting off opinions....the interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer for example. But Maher is too lazy for any deep thinking before he shoots off his mouth. Back when he was doing Politically Incorrect, he declared that Alan Greenspan deserved the credit for the growing economy, not Bill Clinton, not the Republican Congress, just Greenspan! Did he put much thought into that answer, or did it sound like a nice trendy thing to say at the time, because he was calling himself a libertarian back in those days.

Sometimes Maher is right, but that may be just by accident. Once he's decided he's right about something, nothing can change his mind, regardless of the subject. He's as dogmatic about his opinions as his conservative christian fundamentalist enemies.