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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery

An antivaxer starts a WhiteHouse.gov petition for a five year moratorium on childhood vaccines. Hilarity ensues.

An old “friend” of the blog, Kent Heckenlively, has started a WhiteHouse.gov petition for a five year moratorium on childhood vaccines, until the government answers his questions about vaccines that can never be answered and shows evidence of their safety that he’ll never believe. Yes, the delusion is strong in this one, but, sadly, he’s not alone.

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

In the age of Donald Trump, vaccine policy is becoming politicized, with potentially deadly consequences (revisited)

The usual stereotype of an antivaxer is a hippy dippy left wing granola cruncher. The case of Texas shows that increasingly the antivaccine movement is right wing. Worse, it’s becoming more political and harder for Republican legislators to ignore. I fear vaccine science is becoming as politicized as climate science, with results disastrous for public health.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bioethics Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

NYU holds a conference on resistance to vaccines. Antivaxers lose it.

One of the great things about America has been the First Amendment, particularly the right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. These are rights allow us to gather together to protest when we see something that we don’t think is right and want to change. Unfortunately, there is one downside to these freedoms, […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine Naturopathy Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Sh*t naturopaths say, part 3: Nobody expects the Spanish Naturopathic Inquisition!

When last I visited this topic, I was highly tempted to start out out by making a simple observation, namely by quoting John Wooden’s famous adage, “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” Since I didn’t use it for the two posts I did on this […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Humor Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

I am Spartacus! or: Orac applies some Insolence to a rather confused antivaccine blogger

I’ve used my current pseudonym since at least the late 1990s, first on Usenet and then on the first incarnation of this blog. Not surprisingly in retrospect (although it surprised me at the time), people who didn’t like me began trying back in the 1990s to “unmask” me. It began with Holocaust deniers. No, I’m […]