Friday, April 1, 2016

The Continuing Surge in the Attempts to Shutdown Controversial and Politically Incorrect Views

I personally hold no view on the connection, or lack thereof, between vaccines and autism. To gain an informed opinion on the topic would take much more time and effort than I am willing to devote to the subject. It is mostly a topic for scientific specialists,

That said, it is horrific when one side on an issue wants to shut down opposing views and not allow those opposing views to see the light of day. If their views are correct, what are they afraid of? Why are they afraid of weaker positions? This smacks of totalitarian rubbing out of dissent. 

The rubbing out of dissent has emerged in the debate over vaccines and autism.

David Jensen emails to inform:
Robert De Niro has a son with autism and he announced his intention to
air the premier of the documentary VAXXED at his Tribeca Film Festival
in April to start, what he had hoped would be, a constructive dialogue
about the apparent connection between autism and vaccines.
The explosion of outrage (before the movie was shown anywhere) was so
loud that De Niro cancelled the Tribeca showing.
Here is an interview with the producer of VAXXED recorded two hours
before it was announced that VAXXED would not be shown at Tribeca.


The attempts to shut down speech, be the speeches occurring at a DeNiro film festival, on a college campus, or at a Trump rally, and often being done by the young, is a very dangerous sign. This is not how a society advances, it is how a society suffers and suffocates.

Speech suffocation should always be opposed by civilized human beings.

-RW

11 comments:

  1. "It is mostly a topic for scientific specialists,"

    Scientists may own the topic and definitely deserve more credibility and media attention, but I'd say it's a topic most widely discussed by the parents of autistic children and advocacy groups.

    Unfortunately parents often don't pursue the causation question as scientifically as they ought to given the seriousness of the situation, but instead take a more knee jerk topical reaction. Thus we have Jenny McCarthy running around denigrating science and lecturing doctors on hypothetical causes rather than focusing attention on the valuable therapies (ABA) and resources that can treat autism which doctors could help with.

    I think the movie should show, but I think it's conclusion is wrong. Because of that, I do wish people like them would focus their money and resources on treating autism rather not than the demonization of a clearly speculative and unproven causation. It would be vastly more helpful to the people who deal with autism on a daily basis.

    Bottom line: Autism is treatable. Regardless of cause. Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is the best and most proven effective method.

    Causation is currently an unproven mystery (though I lean towards 2 factors in order of importance: genetics and womb nutrition).

    Get the word out that autism is treatable. People don't know that, and that changes lives.

    Don't bitch about what you think causes it....


    That said, I wish they would show the damn movie. The more thoughts are free to get out the better. The truth will win out in the end.

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    Replies
    1. You sound like those phony people who in the 1980s would say there is no proof that cigarette smoking causes cancer, therefore it doesn't cause cancer.

      Of course vaccines cause autism that's why there is no autism in the Amish because they dont vaccinate.

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    2. Well this is just patently false http://www.opposingviews.com/i/prevalence-rates-of-autism-spectrum-disorders-among-the-old-order-amish

      And even if it was true, with such a small sample size (the Amish population is tiny), one could not possible extrapolate so far as to say conclusively that "vaccines cause autism"

      Pure tripe

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    3. "In March 2006, Drs. Kevin Strauss, Holmes Morton and others documented 9 autistic Amish children, which could raise the autism rate of the Lancaster Amish community Olmsted supposedly investigated to almost 1/5,000 which is still a fraction of the US average of 1/68. The statement that autism doesn't exist in Amish populations generally is an exaggeration, though the rate is a small fraction of that in the surrounding population"
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish_anomaly

      So in other words, saying there's "no" autism in the amish is not exactly true but there is something to it. 1/1500 is waaaaaay better than 1/68. Vaccines, GMOs, Water Fluoridation, Anti-depressants/psychotics - it's pretty clear a concerted effort is being taken to keep the masses unhealthy and dumbed down. The elite are not exposed to any of these substances for the most part.

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    4. In the 1970s, the autism rate was 1 in 2,000 in US. As of November 2015 it is in 1 in 45. No doubt in my mind that the vaccines are damaging. I have two serious disabilities in my own family caused by vaccines (confirmed by physicians). I 100% agree that there is an on going effort to keep people unheathy and dumped down. Particularly in US. It is heartbreaking and seriously evil to do this to our children.

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  2. This what our opponents do to us 100% of the time. There is NEVER any engagement with our concepts EVER. They are afraid of us and we should tell them so. ALWAYS. Without any walkback.

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  3. I have little knowledge of this issue, so that makes me dangerous. But, from what I know, the discredited doctor, Andrew Wakefield, did NOT say that ALL vaccinations were dangerous. He said that the MRR vaccination was dangerous. He defined dangerous to mean that Autism could result in a small number of children who got the vaccination.

    Wakefield said that instead of taking the cocktail MMR, a parent should opt for three, separate vaccinations: 1. M; 2. M; 3. R. (I don't know if there was a particular order that he recommended.)

    Wakefield was discredited because someone proved (or alleged, I am not sure) that he had a financial interest in linking the MMR vaccination with Autism. The claim was that Wakefield had his own cocktail vaccination that he wanted to sell.

    Wakefiled was further discredited in the eyes of many because, in his attempts to prove that there was a link, he had to do painful research on children, including children suffering from Autism. This research made him look like a monster.

    I am not saying that he is a monster or that he should be discredited. Just trying to shed a little light on the subject.

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  4. We most certainly cannot leave this to the "scientific specialists." Most of them have sold their soul to might makes right long ago and have seriously eroded their own credibility. Particularly those who work for a government agency. This is due to the fact that the people in the medical business have worked diligently for the last 100 years to separate their profession from the most powerful communication method ever discovered. I am not talking about telephones or cell phones or computers or the internet. I am not even referring to the development of human language. This method is far more powerful than any of those technologies because it allows people to put their money where their mouth is. It enables the action of a single human being to be accounted for and responded to on a global basis. It maximizes the benefits of the law of association and the division of labor in producing human wealth and well being. It is simply voluntary price discovery.
    The ability of every human to engage in voluntary exchange to mutual benefit at the time of transaction. The medical profession from doctors and nurses to hospitals and the pharma business have embraced health insurance mandates, Medicare and Medicaid and other third party payer systems imposed by government regulation to avoid the difficult effort of negotiating price, quality, quantity with their potential customers. This use of force and coercion eliminates the most powerful tool of communication and knowledge that voluntary transactions represent. As a result they are blind to the true needs and wants of their customers and without the cues of voluntary transaction blindly throw "cures" at patients without seeing or understanding the target. They tend to focus on their own wants and their own unearned authority with little accountability. I am glad Mr. Tatum has found some effective treatments but this is not about treatment. Its not even about free speech. Words can serve to confound and confuse as much as they clarify. Only voluntary human action comes most often to the truth. And the best way to implement that is through voluntary transaction to mutual benefit.

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  5. What Brian Erickson said and further the vaccine industry would not exist today if not for the 1986 childhood vaccine injury act which artificially caps liability for the vaccine manufacturers.

    Vaccines are not safe and not effective and should remain entirely voluntary.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, you notice the big pharma paid bloggers coming here? disgusting

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    2. Yep. I think voluntary is the way to go in a free society.

      FM, causation is a hard thing to prove, but very important to get right. It is natural to focus on the why of autism, the fact is that is currently unknown and even if it wasn't, it won't help you fix the situation you may currently find yourself in. Speculation is fun, but not science. I wish Jenny had campaigned the slogan, "autism is treatable," rather than her "scientific" claims. But yeah, my check just came in the mail so... Saulgoodmam.

      By the way, light it up blue today!

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