Helen
Implicitly explicit
It is, it's incredibly wrong, tragically wrong, dusastrously wrong!
You have to learn to let go of logic, and love the dumb!
The Truth about RFK Jr
- Thread starter angrysoba
- Start date
MANIFESTO
Sorry, but I have to be a stickler about this:
Trusting the experts (or even trusting science) isn't all it's cracked up to be. Skeptics should know that, but they rarely do.
I have thought so for quite some time, but it became more apparent than ever during the pandemic.
Scientists and fans of science have relied much too much on the credo Trust Science!, and it has now come back to haunt them/us.
Until fairly recently, scientists have been quite content with being the trusted elite, separate from and elevated above the general populace.
Science has always been an institution separate from ordinary people and in service of people in power, and for the most part scientists weren't unhappy with their privileged position.
Now, however, the powers that be, i.e. the oligarchs and the current political establishment, have decided that science no longer serves their interests. This change is what RFK Jr., the Trump administration and leaders of the MAGA movement, i.e. the GOP, are now making obvious in their recent declarations.
Scientists need to make up their minds about whom to serve: RFK Jr., Trump and the oligarchs or the people?
Serve the People is an old slogan of socialist and communist parties calling themselves Marxist. However, they were usually Marxist in name only. What they got wrong (among other things) was the perpetuation of the class of scientists as something separate from the people they were allegedly serving.
It was pretty obvious that a guy like Lysenko served Stalin and not the people by making the science of biology conform to the ideology of Stalinism and thus stop being scientific. The same thing is apparent when you look at the people who have come into power during the Trump administration, but what is also apparent is, as I have already pointed out a couple of times above, the impotence of the kind of the kind of science that is a separate institution from the people and now confronted with the onslaught of anti-science.
Scientists may have benefitted personally from their privileged position. (That's kinda the point of privilege.) Science, however, hasn't.
For science to survive, it needs to become one with the people, and there is only one way for this to happen. Ordinary people need to become able to understand science. Everybody needs to become science literate, i.e. to understand at least enough to be able to distinguish between science and non-science, instead of having to trust science.
As it is, people lack the skills to distinguish between science and non-science, pseudoscience, ideology. Trust, but verify.
As it is, it is more or less coincidental who they consider to be experts because they can't tell the difference between real experts and frauds, which is why the elected the latter.
It is no coincidence that the current attack on science and scientists is accompanied by the attack on education. You can't have one without the other. In order to be victorious, the forces of darkness need to get rid of both.
And in order to be victorious, the resistance needs to educate itself.
A kind of defense of science and medicine seems to be getting organized, at this point:
The Governors Public Health Alliance is a nonpartisan, non-profit coalition of governors that works together to protect public health.
But unless a similar resistance against the destruction of education is established, it won't succeed.
Will the governors be willing to not only protect but also expand public education?!
I doubt it!
Will a forum that descended from an educational foundation back it up?
I doubt that, too, considering how many of its current members are happy with the way things are currently going.
It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.
Sorry, but I have to be a stickler about this:
Trusting the experts (or even trusting science) isn't all it's cracked up to be. Skeptics should know that, but they rarely do.
I have thought so for quite some time, but it became more apparent than ever during the pandemic.
Scientists and fans of science have relied much too much on the credo Trust Science!, and it has now come back to haunt them/us.
Until fairly recently, scientists have been quite content with being the trusted elite, separate from and elevated above the general populace.
However, the impotence of this position, i.e. their ivory-tower position, has been made conspicuous by the current attacks on science by the powers that be.
Science has always been an institution separate from ordinary people and in service of people in power, and for the most part scientists weren't unhappy with their privileged position.
Now, however, the powers that be, i.e. the oligarchs and the current political establishment, have decided that science no longer serves their interests. This change is what RFK Jr., the Trump administration and leaders of the MAGA movement, i.e. the GOP, are now making obvious in their recent declarations.
Scientists need to make up their minds about whom to serve: RFK Jr., Trump and the oligarchs or the people?
Serve the People is an old slogan of socialist and communist parties calling themselves Marxist. However, they were usually Marxist in name only. What they got wrong (among other things) was the perpetuation of the class of scientists as something separate from the people they were allegedly serving.
It was pretty obvious that a guy like Lysenko served Stalin and not the people by making the science of biology conform to the ideology of Stalinism and thus stop being scientific. The same thing is apparent when you look at the people who have come into power during the Trump administration, but what is also apparent is, as I have already pointed out a couple of times above, the impotence of the kind of the kind of science that is a separate institution from the people and now confronted with the onslaught of anti-science.
Scientists may have benefitted personally from their privileged position. (That's kinda the point of privilege.) Science, however, hasn't.
For science to survive, it needs to become one with the people, and there is only one way for this to happen. Ordinary people need to become able to understand science. Everybody needs to become science literate, i.e. to understand at least enough to be able to distinguish between science and non-science, instead of having to trust science.
As it is, people lack the skills to distinguish between science and non-science, pseudoscience, ideology. Trust, but verify.
As it is, it is more or less coincidental who they consider to be experts because they can't tell the difference between real experts and frauds, which is why the elected the latter.
It is no coincidence that the current attack on science and scientists is accompanied by the attack on education. You can't have one without the other. In order to be victorious, the forces of darkness need to get rid of both.
And in order to be victorious, the resistance needs to educate itself.
A kind of defense of science and medicine seems to be getting organized, at this point:
Dr. Lucky Tran on X, Oct 16, 2025
15 US states & territories have formed a new Public Health Alliance, which will counter the absence of federal leadership by tracking outbreaks, issuing guidance, buying vaccines & more.
Members of the alliance include CA, CO, CT, DE, GU, HI, IL, MD, MA, NJ, NY, NC, OR, RI, WA.
The Governors Public Health Alliance is a nonpartisan, non-profit coalition of governors that works together to protect public health.
But unless a similar resistance against the destruction of education is established, it won't succeed.
Will the governors be willing to not only protect but also expand public education?!
I doubt it!
Will a forum that descended from an educational foundation back it up?
I doubt that, too, considering how many of its current members are happy with the way things are currently going.
It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.
Chris_Halkides
Penultimate Amazing
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About two months ago at Beyond the Noise Dr. Paul Offit wrote, "Kennedy’s actions were a tiresome rerun of his many accusations over the past 20 years. Whenever scientists, doctors, public health officials, academic institutions, scientific journals, or medical or professional societies claim that a vaccine is safe, effective, or valuable, he says that they are all in the pocket of the pharmaceutical industry. No one is to be trusted, except him."
Chris_Halkides
Penultimate Amazing
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At Unbiased Science Jess Steier and colleagues wrote, "While advances in genomic sequencing may soon allow us to screen for hundreds of conditions with a single test, the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC) remains disbanded following its abrupt termination by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in April 2025. This decision, made without public explanation, has sparked widespread concern among medical professionals, patient advocacy groups, and policymakers due to the committee’s central role in guiding the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel (RUSP)—the list of conditions recommended for newborn screening across U.S. states."
On 4 April Pamela Gavin, the CEO of NORD, wrote, "The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD®) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing the more than 30 million Americans living with rare diseases. The sudden termination of the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC) raises serious concerns for the rare disease community and families nationwide." Phenylketonuria is among the diseases that newborns are screened for. If successfully identified, infants with PKU are put on a modified diet and lead close to normal lives; if they are not, severe, irreversible neurological damage occurs.
On 4 April Pamela Gavin, the CEO of NORD, wrote, "The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD®) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing the more than 30 million Americans living with rare diseases. The sudden termination of the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC) raises serious concerns for the rare disease community and families nationwide." Phenylketonuria is among the diseases that newborns are screened for. If successfully identified, infants with PKU are put on a modified diet and lead close to normal lives; if they are not, severe, irreversible neurological damage occurs.
Chris_Halkides
Penultimate Amazing
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In July the New York Times reported, "Doctors widely consider vaccines to be a money pit. Research shows that most pediatricians either break even or lose money on shots. One 2017 study found that nearly a quarter of family medicine providers and 12 percent of pediatricians stopped purchasing vaccines because of prohibitive costs."
In August PBS reported, "Many pediatricians also participate in a federal program that provides vaccines for free to eligible children whose parents can’t afford them. Participating in that program isn’t profitable because even though they get the vaccines for free, pediatricians store and insure them, and Medicaid reimbursements often don’t cover the costs. But many choose to participate and provide those vaccines anyway because it’s valuable for patients, Hackell said."
It is important to distinguish between Medicare and Medicaid.
In August PBS reported, "Many pediatricians also participate in a federal program that provides vaccines for free to eligible children whose parents can’t afford them. Participating in that program isn’t profitable because even though they get the vaccines for free, pediatricians store and insure them, and Medicaid reimbursements often don’t cover the costs. But many choose to participate and provide those vaccines anyway because it’s valuable for patients, Hackell said."
It is important to distinguish between Medicare and Medicaid.
Chris_Halkides
Penultimate Amazing
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Dr. Jess Steier and colleagues discussed aluminum adjuvants in vaccines at Unbiased Science. Specifically, the work of Bradford Hill in 1965 setting forth nine criteria for determining whether exposure brings about a certain outcome. Dr. Steier noted, "Neurotoxicity only occurs from very high levels of aluminum, and the amount of aluminum in vaccines is negligible in comparison to everyday exposures. Did you know there are 104-208 milligrams of aluminum in a single antacid tablet?"
Tero
Philosopher
Baby comes out of the platypus
www.threads.com
skit from Kimmel
William López (@brightonbilly) on Threads
Rfk Jr was on Kimmel last night explaining the science behind Tylenol’s link to Autism. It was very informative.
www.threads.com
Mojo
Mostly harmless
Unless you're RFK Jr.
TragicMonkey
Poisoned Waffles
Well, the goal is to eliminate both, but in a particular order.
EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
Damnit. Every time I read or hear the word I'm reminded of a lame joke that irritates the crap out of me.
Why is there no ibuprofen in the jungle?
'Cos the paracetamol.
shemp
a flimsy character...perfidious and despised
They talk about protecting their children, but it's their children that will suffer the most.
Chris_Halkides
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2009
- Messages
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Three coauthors at STAT wrote, "Finally, Kennedy pretends that there is no economic cost when rates of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases rise. But without vaccines, health care spending would balloon, imposing costs not just on anti-vaxxers but on all of us. For instance, for every dollar spent on the MMR vaccine, the health care system saves over $13. Why? The direct medical cost of a measles case in the U.S. today is $1,793. In 1962, the year before the measles vaccine, there were 549,000 recorded measles cases. Since then, the U.S. population has grown by a factor of 1.82. If doctors stop administering the MMR vaccine, as some in Kennedy’s circle urge, and transmission returns to previous levels, measles alone will cost the U.S. $1.79 billion annually. Before the chickenpox (varicella) vaccine there were 10,500 chickenpox hospitalizations per year. Today each chickenpox hospitalization costs $1,308-$38,268. That’s $13.7 million at best, and $401 million at worst."
ThatGuy11200
Muse
Remember that vile Christian saying, "suffering is good for the soul".
With a short video clip, 6 sec.
I wasn't sure if it was real or AI because I wouldn't expect RFK Jr. and Hines to be flying coach, but it appears to legit.
This clip on TikTok is a little longer.
An anti-masker replies:
EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
It earned “mother” Theresa a Nobel. “Mother” being an apt description of the vile bitch.
a_unique_person
Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning
The Trump/RFJ disease has already spread to Australia.
www.theage.com.au
‘This is not the record we want to be breaking’: Anti-vax ideology helping flu surge, GPs say
Record flu numbers across the country have raised alarm among doctors as data shows vaccination rates for vulnerable populations are in steep decline.
Norman Alexander
Penultimate Amazing
