A Little Civility to the Vaccine Debate

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Sunday November 08, 2009 · 1:45 PM PST

2009/11/08 · 13:45

I’m a bit surprised at the vitriol and ad hominems coming from the Kos community for people who have questions and concerns about the swine flu vaccine and vaccination in general. Calling them cranks or attributing their views to pseudo-science only points out one’s own limited and overly rigid view of a very complicated topic.

In general, I think several different arguments are being improperly merged together:
Is the H1N1 vaccine safe?
Is the H1N1 vaccination strategy necessary and effective?
Is the seasonal flu vaccine necessary and safe?
Is childhood vaccination necessary and safe, especially at a very young age?
Is vaccination at all necessary?

I have to question how many people really want to eliminate vaccination entirely. People understand the benefit and effectiveness of vaccines for diseases like polio. So framing one’s argument against this view is intellectually dishonest.

More below...

TrentNY

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Saturday April 19, 2008 · 3:12 PM PDT

2008/04/19 · 15:12

To get the true dirt on the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns, the Philadelphia City Paper sent two reporters undercover posing as volunteers for their respective campaigns. The articles can be found here:

I Was An Obama Volunteer

I Was A Clinton Volunteer

The two articles show stark contrasts between the two campaigns, and in the end, clearly illustrate my own reasons for supporting Obama over Clinton. Analysis below.

TrentNY

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Thursday March 27, 2008 · 9:12 PM PDT

2008/03/27 · 21:12

This primary season has been intense to say the least and I’m sure you sometimes ask yourself the same thing. When will this madness end?

When will Hillary end her hopeless crusade to win a nomination that is becoming more and more Huckabee-esque with each contest? Why won’t the superdelegates step in and end it? What is going to happen to Florida and Michigan? Can’t Reid, Pelosi, Gore, Dean, someone stop the bleeding? Are we really going to have to endure this ugly primary season until June or the convention?

Well, I believe the answer is that the super-delegates cannot do anything until the Pennsylvania primary is over. And I believe they will end this after the North Carolina and Indiana primaries on May 6th.

I also believe that the manner in which Florida and Michigan plays out is irrelevant.

Proof below:

TrentNY

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 08, 2008 · 4:40 PM PST

2008/03/08 · 16:40

I know, internet polls are biased and unreliable. I grant everyone that.

But I was surprised at the results of this head to head poll nonetheless.

At the time of writing, Hillary against McCain is 50/50.

Obama against McCain is 69/31.

RSS

A Little Civility to the Vaccine Debate

Contrasting The Two Campaigns

It Ends In North Carolina

Interesting LA Times poll