The Cellar  

Go Back   The Cellar > Main > Current Events
FAQ Community Calendar Today's Posts Search

Current Events Help understand the world by talking about things happening in it

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-05-2009, 06:38 PM   #526
jinx
Come on, cat.
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: general vicinity of Philadelphia area
Posts: 7,013
I'd be more easily convinced he saw something specific if he'd mentioned it.
__________________
Crying won't help you, praying won't do you no good.
jinx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-05-2009, 07:37 PM   #527
Undertoad
Radical Centrist
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
Posts: 31,423
Quote:
Originally Posted by jinx View Post
Yes, there have been quite a few, from pharmaceutical to climate research. I hope you didn't miss them all.
My response is already in #342 in this thread.

Quote:
In the short run, yes, all those things you put into scare quotes are corruptible. Less corruptible than in almost every other institution, but yes.

In the long run, no. Truth will out. Redundant studies will find conflicting results, new theories will be advanced and tested.

The guy who discovered that stomach ulcers are caused by a virus was going heavily against medical consensus... and faced some battles at first... but the truth was evident. The guy who invented the MRI faced an uphill battle, as nobody believed he could be coming up with something useful. In the end, truth won.

Why doesn't the CDC operate in the way you'd prefer? Dunno. Your explanation seems to tend towards "The organization is involved in an unlawful, multi-decade conspiracy to maintain the status quo at all costs." I doubt this.

The explanation that you desire requires more and more extraordinary narratives over time. This makes me more skeptical.
Quote:
That misinformation being that Desiree specifically was injured by a vaccine, or that it is actually possible to be injured by a vaccine?
That misinformation being that the flu vaccine is dangerous.
Undertoad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-05-2009, 08:37 PM   #528
Clodfobble
UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 20,012
Dangerous is a relative word, and meaningless in this case.

Do you, or do you not, agree that it is possible to be injured by a vaccine?
Clodfobble is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-05-2009, 10:39 PM   #529
Undertoad
Radical Centrist
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
Posts: 31,423
Of course I would agree; of course!

But since the flu shot is one of the safest vaccines, it's much more likely to prevent you from injury/serious illness/death, so to describe it as "dangerous" is silly.

It's like - once in a while, somebody gets clocked by an automotive air bag... a handful of people have died, mostly children. Dangerous? Well they've saved about 10,000 lives, so you make the call.

Meanwhile, my DJ google alert is STILL, to this day, filled with tards reason-challenged bloggers linking the original DJ YouTube video, to tell people how dangerous the H1N1 shot is. Never mind that wasn't the vaccine she received. Never mind she's all better now, her situation is descrbied as permanent.

And now that I mention that, I recall that "permanent" was how you, Clod, described DJ's condition in post #395 of this thread.
Undertoad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-05-2009, 10:44 PM   #530
Flint
Snowflake
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Dystopia
Posts: 13,136
I could prevent myself from getting toenail fungus by chopping off my foot. Should I? Would it be dangerous?
__________________
******************
There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there
it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your
expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever
gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio
Flint is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-05-2009, 10:52 PM   #531
lumberjim
I can hear my ears
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 25,571
Quote:
Originally Posted by Undertoad View Post
Of course I would agree;

But since it's much more likely to prevent you from injury/serious illness/death, to describe it as "dangerous" is ridiculous. It like - once in a while, somebody gets clocked by an automotive air bag... a handful of people have died, mostly children. Dangerous? Well they've saved about 10,000 lives, so make the call.
See... to me....the chances of getting the disease you're inoculating against are slim to start out....and then, the chances of being killed by that disease are yet another level of slimness.

the chances of getting injured by some fucked up concoction of who knows what... that some money motivated government sponsored program decides is a good thing... in general terms....is at least equal, if not greater.
__________________
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan
lumberjim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-05-2009, 11:01 PM   #532
Undertoad
Radical Centrist
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
Posts: 31,423
Man i gotta stop editing after posting
Undertoad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-05-2009, 11:20 PM   #533
Undertoad
Radical Centrist
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
Posts: 31,423
Quote:
Originally Posted by lumberjim View Post
See... to me....the chances of getting the disease you're inoculating against are slim to start out....and then, the chances of being killed by that disease are yet another level of slimness.
The numbers are available. Regular flu: 100,000 hospitalizations per year, about 35,000 deaths per year. I could not find a death attributed to the regular flu vaccine this year. H1N1 has about 13 deaths due to vaccine -- although one is from a motorcycle injury, so I'm not sure how that works.

Quote:
the chances of getting injured by some fucked up concoction of who knows what... that some money motivated government sponsored program decides is a good thing... in general terms....is at least equal, if not greater.
*shrug* maybe, worse things have happened, although not with so many eyeballs involved.
Undertoad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-05-2009, 11:25 PM   #534
Flint
Snowflake
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Dystopia
Posts: 13,136
Oh yeah, there's so many eyeballs. Of course, if they see anything it's because they are wrong/crazy.
__________________
******************
There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there
it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your
expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever
gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio
Flint is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-06-2009, 08:48 AM   #535
Clodfobble
UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 20,012
Quote:
Originally Posted by Undertoad
Of course I would agree; of course!

But since the flu shot is one of the safest vaccines, it's much more likely to prevent you from injury/serious illness/death, so to describe it as "dangerous" is silly.

It's like - once in a while, somebody gets clocked by an automotive air bag... a handful of people have died, mostly children. Dangerous? Well they've saved about 10,000 lives, so you make the call.
The difference is, they acknowledge the danger and work to mitigate it--after airbags killed a few children, they started offering an airbag offswitch for the passenger seat, so the driver could make the call as to whether there was a child or an adult in the seat. The child-airbag death rate has gone down; they've made an effort.

In the case of vaccines, they've made no effort. They removed thimerosal from childhood vaccines only after Congress ordered them to do so. And they still recommend that same flu shot for pregnant women and babies; what if it's not one of the "safest" for that demographic? They'd never know, because even now they're only nominally looking into it. There happens to be a pandemic rise of not one but several diseases in children, mostly autoimmune. Exponentially more children have these debilitating diseases than ever died or were seriously injured by the diseases we're immunizing against.

Assessing relative risk is important. But they have to be willing to honestly assess it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Undertoad
The numbers are available. Regular flu: 100,000 hospitalizations per year, about 35,000 deaths per year.
How many of those were already severely sick with something else? How many of those were actually vaccinated against the flu, but ended up with a different strain anyway?
Clodfobble is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-06-2009, 10:57 AM   #536
Undertoad
Radical Centrist
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
Posts: 31,423
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clodfobble View Post
In the case of vaccines, they've made no effort. They removed thimerosal from childhood vaccines only after Congress ordered them to do so.
Incorrect. There's no evidence thimerosol is dangerous, but removing it can make vaccines more dangerous, because less effective preservatives are used.

Quote:
And they still recommend that same flu shot for pregnant women and babies; what if it's not one of the "safest" for that demographic?
Not at all interested in "what if's". Prefer evidence.

Quote:
Assessing relative risk is important. But they have to be willing to honestly assess it.
You have the intelligence, but not the education or background to determine if they do.

Quote:
How many of those were already severely sick with something else? How many of those were actually vaccinated against the flu, but ended up with a different strain anyway?
Cut those numbers in half and we still have a good case. If you want to double or quadruple those numbers or more, tell people the flu vaccine will permanently fuck them up.

Oh, you did! Well aim high.
Undertoad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-06-2009, 12:34 PM   #537
Flint
Snowflake
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Dystopia
Posts: 13,136
Quote:
Originally Posted by Undertoad View Post
Cut those numbers in half and we still have a good case.
Tangental “style and tactics” note: it is really funny to watch someone else do that. I love the "cut my numbers in half and I still win!" routine.
__________________
******************
There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there
it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your
expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever
gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio
Flint is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-06-2009, 01:01 PM   #538
Undertoad
Radical Centrist
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
Posts: 31,423
We don't have to do to half. It's thought that a certain number would die anyway or would get another strain, but the numbers on those are not half.

Meanwhile, your one liners are a substitute for serious thought on the matter, and I suggest you either get serious, or fuck off out of the thread, like I fucked off out of Clod's.
Undertoad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-06-2009, 01:34 PM   #539
Flint
Snowflake
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Dystopia
Posts: 13,136
I was actually paying you a compliment in regards to how you express absolute confidence in your position. I've always enjoyed using the "cut my numbers in half" routine wherever I've felt that my position was overwhelmingly supported by the evidence. And, as a tangental note to the thread, I am amused to see this technique being used by someone other than myself.

I will take it that you misunderstood my post, and not that you are a total ƒucking asshole.

One more thing: I must insist that my "one liners" are the direct result of, and an expression of, serious thought. Sometimes I do not feel that stretching my basic observations into a multi-paragraph diatribe is necessary. For example, when I am studying for a final exam on Monday.
__________________
******************
There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there
it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your
expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever
gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio
Flint is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-06-2009, 01:41 PM   #540
Undertoad
Radical Centrist
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
Posts: 31,423
Apologies then, it was the word routine that threw me.

Feel free to fuck into the thread.
Undertoad is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:27 AM.


Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.