The Know-Nothing Party!

Politics in America seems to have lost its damned mind. We have know-nothings on the left espousing the same reality denialism as those on the right. It is a knee jerk reaction that, if one side expresses a view on something, no matter how far out there or based in woo-woo fiction, the other must take the opposite.

Needless to say, this is fucking stupid. The opposite side of a nonsense position is one that is solidly built on rational thought and backed up by corroborative evidence that is independently verifiable.

Instead we have baseless accusations and nonsense straw men on parade from both sides. To be apart of the fun you really have to fall in step to the beat of the party, otherwise you are left in the cold. Talk about what your holy book tells you, or your gut, and make assertions with about as much evidence as the average alien abduction story and the legions will follow.

We saw it under Bush, we are seeing it again under Obama. Republicans crying out about socialism (after voting for a bailout of private industries) and Democrats turning their noses up without as much moral superiority as their predecessors.

This is a democratic republic folks, not follow the leader.
We need to be aware, and full of facts, not sound bites. We need uncomfortable questions to be asked, and when answered the answers need to be checked against the evidence and accepted once it checks out.

That last bit is EXTREMELY important. Too many times do we see legitimate evidence dismissed as a "conspiracy" or "wrong" just because of some fabricated reason in the receiver's head.

If that is too much to ask for, the welcome to the Know-Nothing Party! Everyone is invited to play the party games, just check your brain at the door.

Change.org

We are in deeper shit than I thought.

When people think that 'health freedom' is more important (or even relevant) than our failing economy, two unsuccessful wars, and rampant corruption in the highest offices of the land, then we are beyond fucked.

Lets look at what 'health freedom' entails:
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/health_freedom

Specifically "freedom from coerced or mandatory vaccinations". (The other pro-infectious disease one is obvious)

What the hell do these loons think is happening to them?

We have watched the rise of the No-Nothings on the right, but apparently the left is just as bad.
This country now has bipartisan support for idiocy and is unified in its refusal to accept reality. Bitch, moan, and complain all you want about Republicans, but damned if the Democrats aren't just the other side of the moron coin.

These ignorant urban savages are so scared of everything they don't understand that they are willing to risk our very infrastructure just to keep themselves safe from bogeymen and monsters under their beds.

But I digress, so let us return to the point.

People have become convinced that somehow, autism is caused by vaccines. This idea is nothing new, its been around at least since the early nineties, if not even before. (Most likely before, I've only been alive since the mid-eighties, so feel free to correct me if I am wrong.) It has been spear headed by the likes of celebrities, charlatans, and 'alternative medicine' practitioners in order to profit off of the suffering of lost of grieving parents.

It is diabolically genius on its face, and evil to its core. These people blame the victims of freak genetic flukes for something completely out of their control, and then proceed to demonize the only damn people who stand a chance of helping the afflicted child. As most people know, people who are upset are more likely to cling to anything that gives even the faintest illusion of hope. 'Psychics' to contact the dead are a perfect example of this.

I am no expert, but there are resources out there for people looking for answers.
I recommend the following: www.scienceblogs.com/insolence

The author of this blog is a practicing doctor, and has addressed over and over why these myths exist, and has doggedly attacked the people who prey on the desperate parents of these children. He also is hilarious, so enjoy the reading, and most of all:

THINK CRITICALLY

Um... is this thing on?

Yeah? Good.

There has been something that has been bothering me the last few days (years) and I finally drug it kicking and screaming out into public.

Why the fuck do we have ignorant people in this day and age that are using the internet? If you are using Firefox (and I assume IE and others have something comparable) there is literally a box with a capitol G in it for you to type something into and be overwhelmed with information on any given topic!

With this the case, why do we continue to see, day after day, in forum after forum, and blog after blog the same stupid old wives tales, myths, and lies propagated. It is as if... though hard to believe... people are actually remaining ignorant ON PURPOSE.

(Insert a roll of thunder and lightning searing across the black ether of night.)

Is this some sort of conspiracy? A plague that causes someone to be unable to see results or search engines? Perhaps some allergen that makes you unable to cross reference or verify claims? Or, perhaps the most nefarious, someone has tricked you into thinking you don't need to?

What exactly am I talking about? Such myths as: There being no scientific basis for evolution, that people choose to be homosexuals, that the Earth is not 4.5 billion years old give or take, or that all conflicting view points should be taught to children no matter their level of divorce from reality.

Don't worry though, there is a cure, and we can do it the hard way or the easy way.

Here is the easy way.

The hard way is actually digging through page after page of information, cross referencing materials, and actually checking for little nuggets of reality known as 'facts'.

Good luck out there in separating the wheat from the chaff. There are those in this world, believe it or not, who actually do not want to tell you the truth.