- Thankfully we’re not hearing much more about it lately, but I did just come across this great post from the Corganic blog on the Swine Flu: Dan says, “This is a must see video before accepting any vaccine, especially a swine flu shot.” And then I received this email from my friend, Natalie: “Did you see the small article on page A2 of the Grand Rapids Press today, Friday, July 10, entitled “Kids focus of flu vaccine”? The article states that school-age children will be a key target population for a pandemic flu vaccine in the fall, and they may get their shots at school in a mass vaccination campaign not seen since the polio epidemics of 1950s.” I couldn’t find this on MLive, but as Natalie guessed, this had me fuming. The school certainly had better send home forms first so I can put a big red “don’t even think about it” on the paper and send it back.
- If any of you out there are crazy enough to think of starting your own blog, you may want to listen to an interview I did with Carrie from Natural Moms Talk Radio recently about blogging. (Read Carrie’s recent guest post.) Kelly McCausey from Mom’s Talk Radio asked her to interview some Mom bloggers. (You can tell I was a little nervous, and I thought it was going to be edited more than it was!) Listen to the Podcast – you’ll find the part with Carrie & I about 12 minutes into it. It’s odd to listen to myself talk online, and even more scary to let all of you hear it. Strangely, I’m more comfortable when speaking in front of a group!
- I read this last week at Healthy Fit Mom and had to share: “Here Dr. Briffa writes about a group of McMaster University researchers in Ontario who reviewed all the scientific nutritional evidence linking to heart disease. They found saturated fats to not be on that list.” The truth is getting out!
- Have you read any of these health & nutrition interviews? One is with my husband, Kent, and there are many more, too. 🙂
Have a great week!
Kelly says
I agree Jon, wouldn’t that be a beautiful thing! 🙂
jon w says
Kelly, interesting links. I have read a lot on medical history, but didnt realize how much of a business it is becoming. too bad there’s not a way to take the money out of it and just let science do its job.
jon w says
my apologies, the 9/11 and UFO guy was on the other page. but the general feeling I see here is that ALL vaccines are a ridiculous risk that nobody in their right mind would accept. what would happen if this reverse fear campaign takes off and everybody refused vaccines?
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/08/national/08polio.html
again, it’s a personal decision, and complicated by the fact that the government makes mistakes. but to me it’s partially a moral question, the idea of letting other people take a risk so that I can enjoy our modern freedom from polio, smallpox and (hopefully) the flu epidemics that killed millions of people in the past century. not clear cut, but worthy of considering both sides. for what it’s worth, in the Army I declined the anthrax shots, and dont get flu shots. if we had older relatives in the home or somebody otherwise susceptible that would change. kids aren’t likely to die from flu, but they get shots because they are little disease vectors – they touch each other, play with animals, eat dirty things, then bring it all home.
I definitely want to control what’s injected in my kids and would hope schools can’t give shots without consent? but you’ve got me worried and I’m checking on it.
Kelly says
Jon & Jen, I absolutely LOVE the way you both can disagree, but in a friendly “tone” – so cool. Good conversation.
Jon, I agree with Jen that that those who are leery of the government’s vaccination advice should not be lumped together with those who believe that “9/11 was an inside job” or that “aliens are living among us”.
Have you read through these other 4 posts I’ve written about vaccines? (https://kellythekitchenkop.com/category/vaccines) Take a look if you have a chance.
Keep in mind we had our youngest get SOME shots, but not ALL. (It still made me very nervous though, I wrote about it in one of those posts.) The rest of our kids got them all, because I didn’t know any better then. Also in one of the above posts is a link to a comparison of the number of vaccines required 20 years ago and the number required today – a HUGE difference, and one that is making drug companies millions.
Kelly
Jen says
I too apologize for this long post.
jon w: I didn’t see anything in this post, the video, or in the comments here about 9/11 being an inside job, or that aliens are living among us. I’m pretty sure no one said vaccinations are a conspiracy theory either. I didn’t read the comments on the video website, so maybe you saw those things there.
The video contains FACTS, not fiction. Many more people were injured and killed from the 1976 swine flu vaccination than were sickened or died from the disease. I don’t believe for a nanosecond that much has changed since then!
I trained and worked in scientific research for many years. I agree that most people working in infectious disease epidemiology are good people, who care about others. I even think the majority of laboratory scientists who work for pharmaceutical companies are good people, who think they’re doing the right thing. It is people in the upper levels of government agencies and Big Pharma who could care less about anything (not even the American people) except making money… and lots of it.
Do a little research about vaccinations and their history. Read some of the heartbreaking stories of the thousands of people with loved ones (mostly infants and children) who have been injured or killed from vaccinations, with no government response to their loss. These are only the people who actually filed a complaint. Most don’t, so the numbers are even higher. See how many upper level people have gone through the revolving door of working in the pharmaceutical industry, then into government agencies, then back into pharmaceutics. Or vice versa. Can you say MAJOR conflict of interest? Follow the money.
Here is a good example of this conflict of interest, and note the author.
https://thinktwice.com/Kennedy.pdf
The example you use to support vaccination is compelling, but not realistic. Did you notice that the head of the CDC back in 1976 admitted that they did not have even ONE confirmed case of swine flu before they started vaccinating the American people using that fear campaign? Once you research vaccinations, you will find that with every disease (I believe. There may be an exception.) death rates were way down from the peak BEFORE the vaccination was put into practice. Some vaccinations, like Hep B, are completely ridiculous to give to one day old infants or children. So why is it recommended for every American baby? The money.
There is simply no way I will allow my child to be vaccinated. Not because I think they are scams, or because I think it’s all a conspiracy. The evidence is simply not there to support it as a benefit to him. The risk is too high. There is no way a swine flu vaccination can be developed, adequately tested for safety, and mass produced by fall or winter of this year. It will be a huge experiment on Americans, and my family will not be volunteering for that study. There is plenty of evidence to support the fact that the more vaccinations the CDC recommends, the more money pharmaceutical companies will make.
Finally, if you care about traditional real food and think dietary science is horrible, then I REALLY hope you don’t eat CAFO meat and support that model of agriculture. Animal vaccination, in order to sustain the horrible abuse of animals, workers, and cheap meat should be a crime.
jon w says
sorry in advance for this long post! I am a big fan of this site and traditional healthy food, and absolutely believe that modern dietary science is horrible. however, it’s a little disturbing to see the comments here and on the linked video site. 9/11 was an inside job, aliens are living among us, and vaccines are a conspiracy? come on. vaccination is not a scam, is based on solid public health science, and it’s come a long way since 1976. animal vaccination is one of the things that makes concentrated animal farming possible – unless you think all those farmers are being taken in by conspiracy as well? the infectious disease epidemiologists working for the government are some of the best in the world, and they are public servants responsible for saving lives. that said, nobody can honestly say that puncturing your body to inject a foreign substance is 100% risk free. the reality is somewhere between the two extremes.
imagine an extreme example: a disease is going around that kills 50% of people who get it, and we have a vaccine that prevents the disease but also poses 1% risk of death. if enough people are vaccinated, the disease will not spread, and lives will be saved, though we will never know who they were. on the other hand, there will be victims. they are truly victims of the disease, not victims of poor government policy, or of some conspiracy. in that situation, it is sound public health policy to get as many people vaccinated as possible, to save lives. the numbers I gave are extreme to make a point. if such a situation existed, it would be pretty obvious that the vaccine is a good choice. but in reality it’s never that clear, since new diseases are unknown, and they change as they spread in a population. we don’t know the risks of the next epidemic. we just know that in some years, 10,000 extra people die during flu season, and some years just a few hundred.
knowing that the government’s job is to err on the side of caution and avoid an epidemic, it may be sound INDIVIDUAL policy to avoid the shot, in hopes that the government overestimated the risk, or even if they didnt, that other people’s shots will be enough to protect you. just be aware that you are a “free rider” letting other people take a risk so that you can be a little more safe. it’s fine to make an individual decision for your family’s health, but wild conspiracy theories arent necessary.
Kelly says
You’ve all got my wheels turning. Maybe I could just send in a form saying that our kids are “allergic” to certain ingredients in certain vaccinations, and that they do not have our permission to give them ANY shots without our consent…
Bekki says
I live in San Antonio, only a few miles from one of the school districts that shut down this spring in response to swine flu. People ask me a lot if/when we’ll be getting our shots. Ugh. Luckily, my son and I were recently sick with what might have been swine flu (didn’t bother going to a doc… nothing they could do and we weren’t that sick anyway). So, I tell people we’ve already had it. I do believe in educating people, but… sometimes I’m just not up to the fight. So, I’m glad to have a ‘cop out.’
I do homeschool my kids, and one of the many reasons is to avoid forced vaccination. Gardasil is now required in Texas, I’m told. No way on earth anyone is getting THAT needle anywhere near my daughter. She’s already damaged by the first three rounds of baby shots I allowed. Grrrrr….
Motherhen68 says
In Louisiana we have 3 exemptions allowed, medical, religious, and philosophical. Since my kids are going to a new school this year, I had to file an exemption with the school. I don’t know how much the school will look at all of our information if vaccinations are pushed in the school. I’m thinking of sending a note as well, since a note of a firm NO WAY will be pretty well noted in a school of others who follow along with whatever they are told.
Just last week on the local news, the anchor was speaking of how now in LA kids have to have two rounds of Chickenpox by 4 and the Meningitis vaccine by 11 or they couldn’t go to school, would not be allowed to attend classes is how it was stated. I was so annoyed because that’s not the law, but yet, hardly anyone knows the law. Why don’t people learn things for themselves rather than letting the media and the government tell them what to do all the time???
Motherhen68
Local Nourishment says
I remember the swine flu vaccination program of 1976. I was an older teen and it was my first venture into the politics of healthcare. I got all my “shots” as a kid and my mom was all for the swine flu shot. As the problems began surfacing, we talked about the issue. Her response was a well-indoctrinated position of fear: “You don’t KNOW you’ll get the side effects, but if you get the flu, you’ll DIE!”
We have an anti-vaccination letter on file at our (home) school that clearly states our position. It’s best to think about these things before the official asks the question. I agree, proactivity is important!
Local Nourishment
Vin - NaturalBias says
In regard to the swine flu video, it’s disheartening to realize that the same propaganda and misinformation we deal with today was around more than 30 years ago. Unfortunately, it seems to have gotten worse rather than better. At least we have the internet now to help spread awareness! Thanks for sharing the video.
Vin – NaturalBias
Jen says
Kelly, that swine flu video of 1976 made me sick to my stomach! I couldn’t believe that last commercial clip with the lady talking in such a sweet voice for a fear campaign, and advocating a vaccination the government knew was not safe for Americans. Oh how they denied knowing though! Isn’t it so ironic that nothing has changed since those days, and our government didn’t learn anything from that mass vaccination attempt?
I am SO thankful that my son is not in school yet, and he may never be depending on where we live and the vaccination requirements. I will homeschool if necessary, because I will never subject him to an injection of poison that could damage his brain or body for the rest of his life. It is criminal!
If I were you, I think I would be proactive and let it be known that the school does not have your permission (in writing) to inject anything into your children without your consent. I wouldn’t wait on a consent form to be sent home. Those are my thoughts, but maybe I’m paranoid. 🙂