….everything, which is why we have scientists. These are people who have actually bothered to go through some degree of training on how to effectively evaluate information, So it seems Jason, with all that learning, they didn’t bother with little niceties like courtesy. Didactic authoritarianism never cut it with me. That you end with ostentatiously lecturing me on the importance of “science” is overtly hostile. You have been a guest here, I hope you enjoyed it. Jan

Firstly you say “But more importantly, we also do not want to be polluting our bodies with toxic chemicals which have the power to impact our central nervous systems, our inner eco-system and our vital organs including ALL our major organs such as the liver and kidneys on which we depend for our very lives.”

I think this is only partially true, because it really depends on the dosage for many elements to be considered toxic. For example if you drink too much water it can be toxic but if you have measured dosages of chemotherapy it can be life saving. So in some cases, chemicals that might negatively impact our central nervous systems and vital organs might also save our life. Unfortunately it sounds as if you’re trying to say that vaccinations are somehow “toxic chemicals” with this statement as well, is this true? If so, you should know that this is a largely disagreed position. In fact you might even say that the single most effective form of medical treatment of all time is vaccination. Vaccinations have had incredible success in saving many lives as well as preventing untold numbers of crippling, horrible afflictions.

Many people who claim now that vaccinations are unnecessary should know that the only reason they can do so is because of the multitude of people before them who have already been vaccinated. The fact that many vaccination preventable diseases have been eradicated or severely diminished allows them to take this ignorant position with impunity.

Secondly you ask “But why not lump parents in with the physicians and scientists?” Simple, they lack knowledge. People have a tendency to fill in the blanks with false information and readily fall pretty to logical fallacies. This is to be expected, it’s human nature. Not everyone can know everything about everything, which is why we have scientists. These are people who have actually bothered to go through some degree of training on how to effectively evaluate information, how to avoid logical fallacies and have spent a lot of time studying pertinent information. There is a vast difference in the quality of information given to us on the subject of vaccinations and health between doctors and parents who are not also doctors.

You go on to say “… we can be lazy in that it seems like too much effort and work to find the answers. So we cop out and do what ‘authorities’ tell us.” And on this subject I would agree with you, skepticism and critical thinking are never wrongfully applied. I would however add the caveat that, again, it’s unrealistic to be knowledgeable about everything and at some point you will have to make a decision based on that lack of knowledge. In that scenario taking the advice of those people who have been tasked with specializing in that subject is usually the best alternative.

You also ask “At the arrival of the 20th century, who ever heard of autism?” Surely you’re not suggesting that because the word autism hadn’t been coined nobody had the issues it describes? Medical science itself was still being shaped at that time and it seems quite silly to assume that the name only arrived because of the inception of the affliction.
“Really? Just coincidence?” Or better diagnosis? Or possibly a broadening of the definition of what it means to be autistic? Typically the word Autism is accompanied by the word “spectrum”, which implies degrees of severity as well as completely different conditions all resulting in similar issues. For example take a look at these white papers:

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/08035250410023124
Where in their results they say “The increase is largely a consequence of improved ascertainment and a considerable broadening of the diagnostic concept.”

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/98515870/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
“Reasons for these increases are discussed. They include changes in diagnostic criteria, development of the concept of the wide autistic spectrum, different methods used in studies, growing awareness and knowledge among parents and professional workers and the development of specialist services, as well as the possibility of a true increase in numbers.”

The point is, without more evidence it’s a logical fallacy to conclude that vaccinations are causing autism.

And finally, when you say “… we don’t even NEED the science here.” I couldn’t disagree with you more and actually it sounds almost like you disagree with yourself as well in the next sentence when you say “All we need is our eyes and ears and just a little gray matter.” Since this seems to encompass some core concepts of the scientific process, namely empirical evidence and critical thinking.

Please be careful here, your opposition to vaccination, especially for vaccinations of life threatening and crippling diseases, may directly lead to the death and disablement of real people. I understand why you are skeptical of “big pharma” and the perceived conflict of interest that is capitalism but you have to realize that many of these claims are backed up by science. Unbiased, reproducible, highly specialized science. By all means, be critical, participate, be a peer reviewer, contribute but please know that we do NEED science. Without it, it’s all too easy for what is false to be confused with what is true.

As to where the research is – I personally have been posting on this for all the time I have been blogging (and that’s quite a lot) with articles by well known physicians and scientists. My index (shown up in the pages section will lead the way to all that I have single-handedly been able to amass and display.) Tho I am passionately opposed to all forms of vaccinations (especially to children of any age), nevertheless, I try to keep my personal opinions (mostly) to myself as it is also my opinion that people deserve information based on facts, trials (controlled) which have been scientifically done by intelligent people without a vested interest. For too long, the “hype” that is out there, bombarding us everyday is directly from the pharmaceutical industry, and designed to frighten, confuse and coerce people into the accepted and standard behavior. The science is out there for anyone who wants to look at it and do the right thing for his/her family – as it should be. But it is shielded from the population because Big PhRMA knows how to play this game and has the gigantic where-with-all to fund it – because this is how they retain their power. There is no mystery here, only deception.

Before I attempt to address your second question, may I just remind you that this was not Dr. DeMio making any kind of proclamation to the world at large, by using his clout and status – - but a man who happens to be a father, doctor and scientist, responding to an article he read in our local newspaper. Because it was ‘in the public domain’, I felt ‘allowed’ to use it to post on because it served my needs. I regret that Dr DeMio may have fallen into a hornet’s nest because I liked what he said. Anyone can check him out by googling him. There happens to be a small video snippet as well.

Actually, I believe I have already addressed your second question! But why not lump parents in with the physicians and scientists? We are supposed to have this instinctual thing going on which ‘forces us’ to want to protect our children. We all have that inner voice, but I’m afraid not everyone listens to it. We justify, we can be lazy in that it seems like too much effort and work to find the answers. So we cop out and do what “authorities” tell us. There are however the rebels among us (like me) who refuse to comply and would choose the wall instead.

Further, we don’t even NEED the science here. All we need is our eyes and ears and just a little gray matter. At the arrival of the 20th century, who ever heard of autism? When it began to appear, it was very rare. When childhood inoculations became the fashion, problems began. By mid century, newborn shots were more than the fashion, they became standard procedure and the statistics began showing a preponderance of “afflicted” children bring born. Really? Just coincidence? With each passing decade the numbers climbed dramatically. Now with the 21st century, it is chaos with everybody scrambling for answers. Of course, to be fair, it isn’t only the inoculations, our inner eco-systems have been terribly impacted with all the toxins we are ingesting with the growth of agribusiness – - but if you’ll forgive me, I can only handle so much “heavy, distasteful, distressing” conversation at one time. So I’ll beg off here and reach for a happier thought. Hey, Justin, thanks for stopping by. . . . . Jan

Additionally:
“I am just one of thousands of doctors, scientists and parents…”

Why does he lump parents in with doctors and scientists? How are parents supposed to have any authoritative data on this matter? I just hope people don’t end up dying because they decided not to get a vaccination after reading comments like these which seem to have no actual facts to back them up.

Flu vaccines and BigPharma are VERY BIG business. Money has become a problem for academic science too, not just in the private research sector such as pharmaceuticals. The problem is systemic. Publish or perish! The constant quest for research dollars in almost all types of academic research science means that researchers must guard their “scientific-turf” lest the funding budget be cut. This destroys true objectivity in a very big way.

Many arguments against vaccination are reasonable and cogent. However, clear expert and non-expert voices opposing vaccination are sorely missing in our media discussion. It’s not because they’re not out there. It’s because major news outlets won’t risk losing advertising dollars from BigPharma. Thimerosal, contaminant viruses and other toxic components of flu vaccines are safe? Who are we kidding? http://wp.me/pC1DX-4j