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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking Television

After five years, Bill Maher lets his antivaccine freak flag fly again

Note added 2/10/2015: I’ve posted a followup in response to the skeptics who defend Bill Maher. A couple of weeks ago, I noted the return of the antivaccine wingnut side of Bill Maher, after a (relative) absence of several years, dating back, most likely, to the thorough spanking he endured for spouting off his antivaccine […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Will the Disneyland measles outbreak lead to the end of non-medical exemptions to school vaccine mandates? (It should)

Well, the ongoing multistate measles outbreak that’s been in the news for the last few weeks continues apace, which means I can’t seem to stay away from the issue for more than a couple of days. For instance, yesterday I learned that five babies at a Chicago-area day care have been diagnosed with the measles. […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Popular culture

Chris Christie and Rand Paul’s pandering to antivaccinationists: Is the Republican Party becoming the antivaccine party?

“I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice as well. So that’s a balance the government has to decide.” — NJ Governor Chris Christie, February 2, 2015 “The state doesn’t own the children. Parents own the children, and it is an issue of freedom.” — Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), February 2, […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Television

False balance about vaccines rises from the grave…again

Imagine, if you will, a time machine capsule going all the way back to the earliest days of this blog, back in 2005 and 2006. Now consider the antivaccine movement, which somehow I became very interested in very early, an interest that continues to this day. Do you remember one theme that I kept hitting […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Quackery

Quoth Katie Tietje: Stop being mean to non-vaccinators!

Here we are, into a new week, and the Disneyland measles outbreak continues to grow, the total number of cases now having topped 100 and the disease attributed to someone visiting Disneyland now having reached my state. More than ever, given the high proportion of victims who weren’t vaccinated, antivaccinationists are feeling the heat. Rober, […]