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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Popular culture Skepticism/critical thinking

Brownstone Institute embraces its inner antivaxxer

The Brownstone Institute, a spinoff of AIER and the “spiritual child of the Great Barrington Declaration,” is now embracing its inner antivaxxer by likening vaccine mandates to “othering,” including slavery and Nazi persecution of Jews during the Holocaust.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Computers and social media Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

2021: The year the weaponization of VAERS went mainstream

Misuse of the VAERS database to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt about vaccines has been a favorite technique of antivaxxers for decades. Unfortunately, 2021 was the year when this particular antivax trope was turbocharged. (Note: Orac will be taking a week off after this—see note in post.)

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

The BMJ editors strike back against Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook

The BMJ’s outgoing editor Fiona Godlee and incoming editor wrote open letter to Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook’s labeling Paul Thacker’s conspiracy-filled Pfizer story as lacking context. It did not go well. Actually, it was downright embarrassing.

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Antivaccine nonsense Politics

One more time: The Republican Party is the antivaccine party

NPR recently did a story about the alignment of the Republican Party and antivaxxers. Come for the freedom, stay for the antivax pseudoscience and conspiracy theories.

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Antivaccine nonsense Homeopathy Politics Quackery Television

America’s Quack Dr. Oz is running for Senate to become the new Rand Paul

America’s Quack Dr. Mehmet Oz announced that he will run for the GOP nomination for Senate in Pennsylvania. We really don’t need another quack senator like Rand Paul, but we might get one just the same.