Ironic how anti-vaxxers co-opted the foundation pro-choice advocates created

"My body, my choice" was the key phrase for decades for those seeking to protect a woman's right to safe, legal, termination of a pregnancy (including those gone sideways and become deadly to the mother).

Ironic, then, that "My body, my choice" was co-opted by anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Which means, in no uncertain terms: Loss of right to bodily autonomy - e.g. not being allowed to terminate a pregnancy - is exactly the same loss of right to bodily autonomy to say no to a vaccine, or no to wearing a mask.

They're ALL protected by the 4th and 14th Amendments. So, congrats anti-vaxxers - you've just seen your rights eroded.

COVID-19 mask mandates in Wisconsin and elsewhere spark 'my body, my choice' hypocrisy

By Marcie Bianco AUGUST 3, 2020

Abortion Stories on Social Media Show the Wide Spectrum of Why People Get Them

By Fortesa Latifi MAY 17, 2022

‘My Body, My Choice’: How Vaccine Foes Co-Opted the Abortion Rallying Cry

By Rachel Bluth JULY 5, 2022

Trump voters are more likely to catch COVID-19

I've been very cynical about how humans have handled the COVID-19 infection. Anyone who pays attention knows that former-President Trump poo-pooed the pandemic, and that right-wing propaganda media talking heads continue to tell people things like it's a hoax (it's not), or that masks don't prevent the spread of disease (they do), or that the vaccines are dangerous (they really aren't).

So, here it is August, 2021, and we're seeing another huge spike in infections across the United States.

After nearly two years of COVID-19 in the wild, meaning nearly two years of lies and falsehoods f rom the GOP and right-wing, I wondered if there was a correlation between infection by population and voting for Donald Trump.

Guess what? There kinda is.

18 of the 25 US states with the highest rate of infection, per 100,000 residents, voted for Trump.

Measles - It's Not Just a Rash, Dumbass

So, guess what?  The measles vaccine was developed around 1954, and by 1963 - almost ten years of testing - declared safe and effective enough  licensed in the United States.  This wasn't "rushed to market to make money."  This was tested, refined and prepared in order to stop kids from dying.

(child suffering from measles)

(Source: BBC)

Here is a chart showing outbreaks of the disease.

Here is a chart showing DEATHS from the disease.  Notice that Outbreaks plummets after the vaccine is introduced, and that deaths drops to nearly zero.

For the slow thinkers in the room, that means - because of vaccinations - kids stopped dying.

Now, we come back around to "Hey, I'm afraid of vaccines!" and suddenly, a disease that had been thought eliminated, explodes into the population again.

Because, you know, "Vaccines are dangerous!"

And where are kids getting sick?  Hm...

Funny how this works.  Cut back on vaccinations against measles, and get measles outbreaks.  Gosh, it's almost as if the vaccines do actually protect people from infectious diseases.  You know, like they actually work?  Imagine that.

"Vaccines are dangerous."  Yeah, unlike, say, measles....

  

So, no, I have zero tolerance for anti-vaxxers, who are willing to cripple and kill their own children and my children, too.  Fuck you, endangering my child.

Americans do not value life

The root problem behind “mass shootings” and other mindless atrocities on American soil isn't guns, terrorists, patriots, or even “mental health.”

The root problem is that we do not value life.

Abortion? - kill the doctors

Unwanted pregnancy? - blame the victim and make her pay for the pregnancy and pay for the child

Orphanages? - can’t afford them, we have to pay for the corporate prisons

Public education? - can't afford them, we have to subsidize the church schools

Drug treatment programs? - can't afford them, we have to pay for the corporate prisons

Universal health care - fuck that socialist shit, I'm not paying for someone else to be healthy, and you can't force me to buy health insurance our broken system requires me to have to keep myself healthy, but those fucking expensive hospitals better treat me if I get sick

Food stamps - fuck those moochers

Vaccines - you can't give me drugs, I'll just catch that horrible disease and transmit it to others, you fascist commie

Military machine - Damn right we need fast planes and big guns to kill foreigners and take their oil. Except drones. Damn gummint! Only drones allowed in my neighborhood are the ones me and my buds be using to spy on the sweet "barely legal" thang next door!

Body armor for soldiers - you know, it encourages creativity to make them scrounge for metal to armor their own cars

Healthcare for veterans - we can't afford that socialism crap, because we gave tax cuts to rich people

Guns - oh fuck, yeah, kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out

If life has no value, why should we not expect "lone wolves" to commit mass murder, whether we call these psychos "terrorists," "patriots," "haters," "good Christians," "Islamamuslims," or "troubled young men," doesn't fucking matter. 

My Principles - Where I Stand

Let's be clear:

I'm not "pro-abortion," I'm opposed to unwanted pregnancy.

I'm not "anti-gun," I'm opposed to irresponsible people casually waving around devices that can kill in an instant.

I'm not "pro-vaccine," I'm opposed to disease.

I'm not "anti-religion," I'm opposed to people pissing on God and telling themselves they done good.

I don't think like normal people. Don't jump to conclusions or make assumptions about what I think.  Hang in there with me - you'll have a lot of fun, maybe learn a few things, maybe teach me a few things, but we'll make the world a better place through meaningful dialogue ;-)

Vaccines and Abortion and "Small Fascist Government" - Oh, My!

+Leo Garcia wrote " America... where killing the unborn is an option; but protecting children from toxic chemicals is a crime."

To which I replied:

See, no, you've got that backwards. It should read "America - Where forcing a woman to experience permanent metabolic changes to incubate an organism she might not want is one of the few times that 'small government' should invade not just a woman's home, but the woman's body itself, but bloody well keep your fascist government off my right to disfigure or murder my children - and other people's children, too - with preventable disease organisms!"


(Note, this is not intended as a criticism of Leo Garcia. He merely made a statement, and I'm running off on my own snarky tangent.)

Be brave: murder your child by NOT vaccinating

You have a statistically zero chance of getting seriously ill from a vaccine. No, really: all reports claiming it is higher than "not going to happen to you" have been proven as bullshit, rumor, innuendo, or people just confusing cause and effect by linking two unrelated events.

30,000 people in the United States alone die every year from the flu. That means you have about 30,000 chances to end up dead by not getting a flu vaccine shot. I wish I had such good odds of winning the lottery!

Fear is a powerful force. Uncertainty and Doubt are equally powerful. Says so right here.

If you love your children, get vaccinated. Get them vaccinated. Whooping cough is a horrible disease, and a horrible way to murder your child by not getting your child vaccinated.

Yeah, that's what I said: choose not to protect your child, then if your child gets sick and dies, you've as well as murdered your child. Congrats for wanting to make the best decisions, but you're responsible for making the bloody stupid ones, too.

My favorite line of argument is "you can't trust either the government or big pharma to tell the truth," because it totally fails the "Does That Even Fucking Make Sense??" test.

Let's look at it: in order for a "deadly" vaccine to stay on the market it has to

1) pass a shitload of researchers, all of whom have to be unethical,

2) pass a shitload of peer review studies, all of whom have to be unbelievably incompetent,

3) pass a bunch of corporate bean-pushers, who might very well be unethical, but not likely all, when it comes to human lives,

4) government regulators who can lose their jobs and go to jail if they let poison pass thru to the public,

5) the reality check of doctors giving medications to their patients, all of whom can get sued, lose their jobs, and go to jail for injecting toxins into people.

So, anyone who says "you can't trust them" is really saying "I prefer to cling to my ignorance, fear, and superstition, rather than put any effort into thinking things through like a reasonable human being."

Just get the damn vaccines and live a statistically longer, healthier life.

When Ebola Makes It To Your City

I'll have to try to find the link, and then watch the video, but I saw a meme (with video) that was captioned:

"What to do when Ebola makes it to your city."

And I thought "Shit, guess we really ought to have pulled our heads from our asses and stopped this thing back when it was only killing people in Africa."

Note, there's dripping sarcasm here.

1. Why the fuck has this disease been allowed to kill thousands of people? We bloody well know how to stop epidemics, if only the resources had been mustered and provided to the peoples of Africa;
2. Why do we - here in the US - always have our heads up our ass when it comes to the reality that the world is a big place, and we - as Jesus said - have a responsibility to each other. "Am I my brother's keeper?" No, but he's still your brother, so suck it up and lend a hand when he's dying;
3. Sheer Enlightened Self-Interest ought to have motivated us to prevent this sucker from crossing the ocean and endangering more people. Also, viruses mutate, so bloody well better to find a treatment now before it turns into something worse and becomes a lot harder to stop.
4. We - meaning the asshats running the profit-machine known as "Big Pharma," actually - have incredible resources in terms of brainpower and equipment to shut down most viruses if we really try. I mean, we even have a vaccine against a type of cancer! Surely we could shut this sucker down.

Just as a final note, I'm hearing the fear-mongers in right-wing world chanting "October Surprise" and how the President and Center for Disease Control "failed to act," and "failed to protect Americans" and blah, blah, blah, be Very Afraid and Do-What-I-Say-And-Everything-Will-Be-Fine-(For-Me-Ha-Ha-Ha).

Well, guess what right-wing world: you reap what you have sown. YOU put the GOP in Congress, and YOUR GOP cut the CDC funding, therefore YOU are to blame for any "failings" of the CDC. Now, suck it up and accept responsibility like adults - instead of trying to point fingers like children - and figure out how to stop panicking and do something productive. (Hint: restore  Nixon-era taxes on the billionaires and re-fund the CDC and Keep America Safe.)

Freedom of Speech does not mean you can't get fired from your job, asshole

Rob Schneider is a twit and a tit.

1) He's anti-vaccine.  Okay, there are so many reasons this is selfish, dumb, and well, just bone-headed wrong.

2) He's confusing getting fired from a private contract job with "freedom of speech."

Freedom of Speech means "the government of the people, by the people, shall make no law prohibiting speech."  Just like that asswipe on the Duck show chanted "freedom of speech" when he got fired from his private contract job with a television show for being a racist tit, so Rob is trying to claim that private industry is the same as government.

So, let me see - Rob and Phil want to say that "My private contract cannot be canceled, regardless of what I say, therefore employee rights trump corporate owner rights."

Hm, now that's an interesting idea. Quite in reverse contrast to the way the model of "corporate owner rights trump serf/slave rights" is chanted.

Hm. The little tit might be onto something.

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Note: I did edit this to fix the link about Rob Schneider, since the original link broke when the site owners changed it. I also added the link about Phil Robertson from "Duck Dynasty."  Actually, that is a really good read, because it breaks down the point I'm making in very eloquent language, and also lambasts politicians like Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin for being ignorant tits and conflating "freedom of speech" with private contract law. Actually, I don't think Gov. Jindal is ignorant - I think he's deliberately misrepresenting the First Amendment in order to score political points with a niche group of voters who have become very confused about what the First Amendment is by people exactly like Gov. Jindal who are deliberately trying to confuse them.  I do think Gov. Palin is an ignorant tit.