On Medical Miracles
What is a medical miracle?
A vaccine. Probably the best disease intervention that ever existed and ever will.
In this scary pandemic world, are the anti-vaxxers changing their minds? I wonder . . .
Who hasn’t seen footage of these impassioned mothers, who think they can keep their children safe from disease by raising them to be hippies or extremely religious plus avoiding life-saving vaccines.
The truth is, they are having trouble accepting the uncertainty and tragedy that is life.
Embrace life, Kiddos.
The pain, mess, confusion, unfairness and eventual death. It’s all we got. It probably means something in the end. How could it not, when physical life itself is so magnificent?
I grew up in an extremely religious household. All that mattered was the afterlife, so no need to be a responsible or kind person now. Trust me, my family did not see themselves this way. But their belief that they were the only chosen so God would always protect them informed how they treated others and the planet. In short, it resulted in extreme selfishness, shortsightedness and lack of empathy. While singing hymns of love and forgiveness.
I read the whole Bible as a teenager. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense, unless you believe in aliens, especially the Old Testament.
Did you know Jesus did not preach heaven and hell? Those concepts didn’t exist in Judaism. I heard that here. Paul the Apostle and others added the concepts of heaven and hell to Christianity, being of Greek heritage. Those ideas came from dudes like Plato.
Okay, thanks for reading. Hope I didn’t offend anyone. I do have religious friends, but we can disagree and it’s not personal. That’s what adults do.
More potentially offensive material below.
Religious Tax-Exemption
I envy the sense of community religious people have, the anti-vaxxers, too. The belonging, the tribal rituals would be comforting. Modern life in a big country is really lonely and uncertain.
People should believe what they want. However I do not think magical thinking or self-soothing rituals should be government subsidized, unless we include yoga classes or shopping trips to BevMo. Religion is big business, and those preachers get a lot of money for doing nothing, with no accountability. It’s shameful.
Only charities that provide a service, IMO, should have tax-exemption. Like feeding the homeless. Or disease research. They should be financially transparent and responsible, too. That would stop people from being blindly exploited. And make the tax system more fair.
The Church of Scientology and the Latter Day Saints have billions in cash reserves. Why? Because they extract heavy dues from members, they pay almost no tax and they have a free labor force. What they sell is comfort and hope. They’ll shun you (or worse) if you quit, which certainly does raise questions about the authenticity of the beliefs they sell. Our country could sure use their ill-gotten billions right now.
The Cost of Not Vaccinating
Vaccine refusal makes life very dangerous for other children who have cancer and cannot get a vaccine, and for anyone immunocompromised by cancer or diabetes or auto-immune disease, infants, the elderly, pregnant women, etc. Unvaccinated, you can infect those who cannot protect themselves. That’s not nice.
Vaccination helps prevent antibiotic overuse, another public health crisis. Vaccinated, you won’t get those illnesses so you won’t be going to the doctor and won’t be getting unnecessary antibiotics. That will also save the lives of others. You see, antibiotics have the consequence of breeding the bacteria to get stronger and resist them. They are not the medical miracle vaccines are, and should be avoided when possible.
Vaccines do not cause the many childhood illnesses which present around the age vaccines are given. Those illness would happen anyway. Jenny McCarthy could not accept that her kid had a rare seizure disorder. Medical denial is not just limited to cancer, mental illness or Ehlers-Danlos. So Jenny made herself into an anti-vaxxer “hero.” And sold a lot of books. Will she apologize now?
Autism is a different kind of brain. You’re born that way. It does not come later. It may be the result of opioid use, which changes the internal opiate system of the developing brain. That is one theory.
I ❤️ Vaccines
And so does your heart.
Here’s a screen shot of my recent immunization history. I ask for what is available and try to talk them into giving it to me.
I love putting my medical records on the internet.
No one wants to give pneumonia vaccines to someone as young as I, but I get lung infections easily. So I argue and win. My insurance pays.
The pneumonia vaccines won’t necessarily prevent pneumonia. But should make it less likely to kill you. 🤞
I got the HPV vaccine not because I’m on Tinder. Tinder is yuck. I’m from a different generation, where if you wanted to get with somebody, you’d better be able to talk to them on the phone. This is also why I’m HPV negative and intend to die that way. My generation was not promiscuous like the kids are now. Yuck. Swiping and exchanging bodily fluids is not my idea of a good time. I prefer an intellectual seduction.
Read the CDC Vaccination Schedule here.
Vaccine Podcast
Learn more at The Antigen Podcast, by Pfizer. I ❤️ big pharma.
Our Own Immunity
This new coronavirus is so contagious, it spreads so easily and so fast. That’s why we are #SaferAtHome
Employees at Southern California Amazon facilities have been getting coronavirus. Yikes. It’s hard not to get this thing unless you avoid people. Does this mean we are fast on our way to community immunity?
Once exposed, if you live through the coronavirus, you should develop immunity to it. How long your immunity lasts is unknown, but could be anywhere from one to ten years.
Sadly, many lives will be lost along the way. Until we get a vaccine.
People that have immunity, either their own or from a yet-to-be-developed vaccine, would be safe to end quarantine and resume normal life.
Immunity Testing
Currently, the US is testing for active infections. It would take a different kind of test to look for who had coronavirus and 4developed immunity.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Germany wants to begin widespread serology (immunity) testing soon, and the UK has ordered millions of at-home antibody tests. Yay!
What’s our government up to?
Back stateside, Orange is very busy ukraining state governors. He’ll exchange life saving medical equipment with governors for praise he can record, soundbites to use in his campaign.
Like he did with Ukraine: withholding yours and my tax money from them until they would discredit his rival, Joe Biden. They didn’t and Orange got impeached. Oops. He didn’t mind so much because he lives for attention, including negative. He feels so warm inside when people stand up for him.
The time, it’s a win-win for Orange, because those who don’t support him deserve to die anyway. His re-election is the real national emergency.
And Orange is too sexy to wear a face mask.
Or maybe he thinks he’s invincible.
Probably both.
Just please! please! please! don’t talk about how last September the Trump administration ended a $200-million pandemic early-warning program aimed at training scientists in China and other countries to detect and respond to a new virus that could spread fast and kill us all.
Orange would appreciate it.