Monday Tabbing

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic who may become the secretary of health and human services, has said the idea that vaccination has nearly eradicated polio is “a mythology.”

And yet, he might soon be Secretary of Health and Human Services.

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Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a retired Professor of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. Slugger says:

    Look, the bird flu is just the flu! Those cats didn’t die of the flu, they died with the flu. Exposing cats to the bird flu virus will cost a few lives but will result in herd immunity. I do admit that herding cats is not easy.

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  2. Kathy says:

    @Slugger:

    Bird flu is a passing phenomenon. The epidemic in cattle will burn out, much as the trump disease did.

    Past that, raw milk is fraught with concerns. Milk is a good growth medium for microorganisms. So much so, we make use of this property to produce dairy products by placing specific microorganisms in it, and maximizing the conditions they find favorable.

    In elementary school, we were taught that milk pasteurization led to reduced disease in Europe and the Americas, once it was implemented on a wide scale.

    This sounds a lot like what vaccines accomplished. There are two other developments in the field of public sanitation, too, that have helped reduce the incidence and prevalence of disease: sewage collection, and a clean water supply. I expect any day to hear why open sewers and untreated well water are better for you…

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  3. wr says:

    @Kathy: ” I expect any day to hear why open sewers and untreated well water are better for you…”

    Make Cholera Great Again!

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  4. Mister Bluster says:

    Cow’s milk is for baby cows.

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  5. CSK says:

    Like Moustafa, I don’t trust Gabbard as DNI, either.

  6. Rob1 says:

    Re: Gabbard

    The little girl said, “We were burned from head to toe, and our families were killed by the Assad regime in Russian airplanes.”

    Gabbard’s response was shocking, appalling. She said, “How do you know it was Assad and Russia, not ISIS?” Which is ludicrous. We know ISIS doesn’t have airplanes. We know that these little girls have no reason to lie.

    A record of extreme disingenuousness from Gabbard. The incoming administration has an agenda that will test the core of our established national security, and not for the better.

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  7. gVOR10 says:

    @Kathy:

    I expect any day to hear why open sewers and untreated well water are better for you…

    Here’s a Slate article from some years ago on the “raw water movement”.

    The Slate article blames it on silicon valley entrepreneurs. I wonder if it isn’t more marketers. “I’m so much smarter than the rubes I can sell them water for $5 a gallon.” And the infuriating thing is, they’re right.

  8. rondo1342 says:

    @Kathy:

    I grew up on a farm in southwest Missouri, and drank untreated well water every day. Best tasting water I ever had, I still revel in it when I visit my mom. I filter the municipal water I currently drink (I now live in KCMO) to get rid of the chlorine; well water is awesome!

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  9. Monala says:

    I wrote this on the open thread:

    It astounds me that anti-vaxxers, who claim that childhood diseases started declining in the 20th century not because of vaccines but thanks to better sanitation, also turn around and question the germ theory of disease. How do they not notice the contradiction?

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  10. Heisenberg says:

    The CCP must be in awe of Trump: he picked a cabinet more suited to Chinese interests than they could possibly dream AND he’s made Elon Musk, who is totally in thrall to them, a major powerbroker!