I’m used to hearing complaints that those damned immigrants, especially the Muslim ones, are bringing White America down. How about when the shoe is on the other foot, though? Minnesota has a lot of Somali immigrants who are predominantly Muslim, and recently it’s in the news that there is a small epidemic of measles sweeping through that community, because they’re not getting properly vaccinated. Must be some religious thing, right?
Wrong. It’s homegrown Western ignorance. It seems the Koran doesn’t have much to say about autism or vaccinations, but once you move to America, the parasites descend upon you and fill your head with lies about how your kids will be all horribly autistic if you protect them against contagious disease.
So worried Somali-Americans got lectured at by Mark Blaxill. Who is he, you might ask?
Blaxill is not a scientist. Nor is he a doctor, though he plays one at SafeMinds. Blaxill is a former businessman turned spokesperson for the anti-vaccinationist movement (Vice President of SafeMinds). Fancies himself a self-made expert epidemiologist. In the grips of extreme confirmation bias (science doesn’t support his views, hence scientists are probably mislead by their own personal interests — having no clue as to how a controlled experiment is carried out).
Liar, crank and conspiracy theorist (Big Pharma is out to get us — Blaxill actually terms it the “autism holocaust”), as discussed here; also a professional shifter of goalposts (without necessarily being aware of it himself).
Among his most prominent techniques are faking statistics to show an explosion in autism the last thirty years, and looking at new studies to determine whether they are scientifically “solid” or not (meaning he determines whether they can be interpreted as agreeing with his lunacy or not).
Oddly, he doesn’t look Somali or Muslim. He is going to kill people with misinformation, though.
Orac posted about this today as well, some people here might be interested in reading it.
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2017/05/01/thanks-for-the-measles-yet-again-andy/
Overseas activities like this also don’t help the cause of vaccination. Especially when it stirs up ideas that such programs are some nefarious American plot, which that one actually was. I hope getting bin Laden was worth it for the long-term effects of sowing distrust about vaccination.
Evil white guy killing Furriners and Mooslims?
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!
God, these people make me sick. What the hell is wrong with Mark Blaxill?
How much money is he making off this scam?
On the bright side, here’s some good news: the budget from Congress completely undos Trump’s proposed cuts to NIH.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/the-new-gop-budget-rejects-trumps-cuts-to-nih/524895/
Oddly, he doesn’t look Somali or Muslim.
And how would one “look” Muslim?
That term is so repulsive, I hardly know where to start. Not only does it rob individuals with autism of their humanity by equating them with corpses, but it also minimizes the horrors of the actual Holocaust. And the combination of the two somehow makes both worse, compounded by the fact I’m sure he’s making lots of money with his organization.
bringing White America down
Maybe it’s past time we started thinking about how to do exactly that.
I would like to see all those who advocate against vaccinations be made to go to the wards of patients who are suffering from diseases brought on by a lack of being vaccinated.
uncle frogy
Definitely a terrorist creating epidemics. Can somebody give this guy every vaccine preventable disease there is. One of them should get rid of him.
@garydargan
Dollars to donuts, he’s vaccinated himself.
So has this guy been handed a position in the trump administration yet?