Becoming a parent can turn even the most rational person irrational.  In my entire life, no other event has more regularly caused irrational fears and throughts to be taken seriously than that.  So, when my daughter turned one and received her MMR shot, I worried. 

Of course, I knew that the research was basically bullshit and that a tie between a vaccine and an extremely complicated mental disorder was counter-intuitive* the fear was still there.  I found myself watching her and wondering if she was different.  If there were any symptoms.

Turns out the study that raised that ugly fear was completely fabricated by a man that should be executed for manslaughter.

Why manslaughter?  Well, at least two deaths in England can be laid directly at his feet and I'm sure a lot more than that are attributable to his deranged actions.  Like I said, I'm not a person that is prone to irrational thoughts (they tend to be dismissed out of hand instantly) so I can only imagine what effects this study would have on more emotional/less logic-based people.

So, good.  There is no tie. 

And, Andrew Wakefield?  Stay out of Milwaukee, WI because I owe you the physical equivalent of worrying that my daughter's brain has been damaged by a vaccine.  I'm pretty sure the conversion ratio doesn't bode well for your survival chances.

* - Some day I'll expound on my hatred for the modern age's misguided belief that counter-intuitive things are true all the time.  It is a tool of the liberal mindset to be excited when you say "you'd think that, but actually..."

In reality, almost everything that happens is intuitive on some level and things that aren't should be given far more scrutiny because they're probably bullshit.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 01:20 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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