Here in NM, vaccination rates are 96&-97% depending on the year because the local laws have some serious teeth in them. Two years ago, there were measles outbreaks in the surrounding states but no cases here.

Public health laws work.They trump stupid, that's why they're there.

I really hate the anti-vaccination movement.

And even if the Canaries were correct about medical corruption in America, how do they explain the use of vaccination in countries with single-payer systems?

This low.

The anti-vaccine movement shows just how low it can go

I debated whether or not to blog about this. The reason is that I suspect that gathering a lot of attention and controversy is exactly what Generation Rescue wanted when it posted what I’m about to blog about. On the other hand, no matter how low my opinion is of the principals who run Generation Rescue‘s anti-vaccine propaganda blog Age of Autism, there were limits below which they wouldn’t go. Oh, sure, AoA has launched at least three broadsides at me over the last year and a half, all penned by the ever-offensive blowhard J.B. Handley, the founder of Generation Rescue who’s allowed himself to be displaced by a brainless D-list actress and her equally dim but, alas, very popular A-list comedian boyfriend. Indeed, I’ve gotten to the point where I can almost predict when such a broadside is coming, and when it does I know I’ve scored big points.

This time, though, the broadside wasn’t directed at me.

Look, I get it. I get why J.B. Handley likes to launch a full frontal assault on me periodically. I’m not all warm and cuddly and accommodationist. When I see pseudoscience, stupidity, and nastiness on the part of the anti-vaccine movement I don’t mince words about it. I call stupidity stupidity and despicable behavior despicable behavior. Sometimes it it causes me some mild trouble. But, attacks by cranks aside, I’ve never seen anything like what AoA posted the other day. It was so over-the-top that even bloggers who don’t normally pay that much attention to the anti-vaccine movement, bloggers like Rebecca “Skepchick” Watson took notice before even I did. Basically, whatever nastiness the anti-vaccine movement has thrown my way, it’s never done to me what it’s just done to a friend (Steve Novella), a scientist I admire (Paul Offit), and two journalists (Amy Wallace and Trine Tsouderos) who’ve earned my respect for having written hard-hitting, science-based exposes of the anti-vaccine movement and the anti-vaccine autism “biomed” movement, as well as others who clearly don’t deserve this degree of hate and abuse.

It’s never portrayed me as eating babies as part of a Thanksgiving feast. That’s right. AoA thinks its a load of yucks to paint its enemies as cannibals eating babies.

(The picture in question)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lEzjpUUgB7g/UIgtm9ii_WI/AAAAAAAAAlY/ddBRhxGIntg/s400/AoA+Thanksgiving+Baby+Feast.jpg

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/12/01/the-anti-vaccine-movement-shows-just-how/

It's amazing how ugly the entire movement really is, and how DU allows posters to promote that stuff is beyond me.