231 Comments

We must call our Senators to protect our people from an epidemic.

You can say, Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______. I am calling to say that the nomination of RFK Jr. for HHS Secretary is dangerous and I oppose it. He opposes life saving vaccines and has pledged to stop funding research on treatments and cures for deadly diseases. In a public health emergency more would die under his watch. He also lacks the experience necessary to manage major health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid. I urge the Senator to protect our health and reject RFK Jr.'s nomination. Thanks.

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Whenever I see a comment like this, which is perfectly fine, I refer people to Substacker Scott Dworkin because he already has an infrastructure for this and it will save you a lot of time. Write away!

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Can you connect me?

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Absolutely!

Go here: https://www.dworkinsubstack.com/p/another-trump-nominee-drops-out

Then to the first comment (from Scott). The first comment is pinned and you'll know you've hit the right comment when you see stuff like this:

Opposing Kennedy: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-your-senators-oppose-kennedy-for-health-and-human-services-secretary/

He has one of these links for most of the lunatic picks.

Scott is sort of a recent find for me, but I think he was a former campaign guy for the Obama campaign, so he's got some street cred.

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Thanks! Done!!

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Done!

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Also done. Thanks, Charles.

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Done, done, and shared to my socials! Thank you so much for this - this is a GREAT resource.

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Also done.

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Any question that trump begins an answer with "I think" should immediately set off alarms.

This is what happens when little rich narcissistic assholes are told that they are geniuses, despite all evidence to the contrary.

I know better than the doctors. I know better than the generals. I know better than the scientists... Americans should know better than to vote for anyone who believes any of that. (I'm surprised that he doesn't just do away with the Cabinet altogether, since he knows better than any of its members.)

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50% of Americans are absent either mentally or physically or both.

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Less than 50% of voters. A huge number of eligible voters never voted.

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Not to be a smart ass, but if they didn't voter they aren't voters.

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60% of Americans have a 6th grade or lower reading comprehension level.

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Well dug statement skangirl!!

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Exactly my question: why do we need any cabinet when we have Elmo and Lump like double dose of Ayatollah? Questions about Particle Physics, weather pattern, contagious diseases, preventive medications, neuro surgery, anthropology, architecture, etc. ? The Elmo-Lump oracle duo have answers.

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But he has to let his supporters in so they can grift with him.

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After you call your Senators call your primary care provider to make sure you’re up to date on all vaccines. Natural selection has a survival bias towards those who accept scientific evidence.

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I'm most concerned about women who are pregnant or will have infants in early 2025. I personally was planning on doing IVF in 2026. What I'm doing now is embryo freezing. If the worst happens I will keep my tested embryos under ice until it's safe

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Maybe ask your doc about getting a MMR booster now, while you can.

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I did. I'm so glad my doctor told me to update MMR and chicken pox. Will be getting TDAP sooner than later

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My doc wanted a titer first. Somehow I was still showing immunity to all three, vax given in the 1960s. I was very surprised

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That's lucky. I was not that lucky. I guess Millenials got a crappy Vax strain. But I'm thankful my fertility doctor is very thorough and she told me to get boosted.

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Do you need a booster if you actually had Mumps, measels and chicken pox? Yes I did it all!

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On my to do list for January Shingles Vaccine.

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Definitely talk to your Doctor. They can draw blood and determine if you need a booster. And bless your heart.... measles and mumps are awful!

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Some people have lasting immunity. Some don't. SARS-COVID 19 tended to reset the immune system of many people it infected eliminating that immunity.

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I would add - antibody titers or a dose for any woman of reproductive age. If they pass a nationwide abortion ban things could get dicy. People just don't remember what it was like before MMR. Badly disabled babies were common. Fetal deaths were common... Stupid people appear to be common as well.

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I was born to a mother who had German Measles in the first trimester. I have multiple disabilities. A few might be indirectly related. I doubt they've done long-term studies to determine if there are long-term effects from it.

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Rubella used to be a scourge for pregnant women and their babies. Only us ancient warriors remember and understand.

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It still is a scourge for some of us.

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I'm sorry to hear that. But I think the link between the two has been proven. It's not indirect, but it may be a question of luck as to how it affects you.

I just did some checking. This is what Dr Googly says:

Complications include deafness, cataracts, heart defects, brain disorders, mental retardation, bone alterations, liver and spleen damage.

And

Rubella is the leading vaccine-preventable cause of birth defects,

But one of the problems is that you can't give the rubella vax to a pregnant woman since that can kill the fetus.

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It can also cause partial to total blindness. I've faced worsening eyesight over the years. I'm blind in one eye and the other one has been getting worse since age 7. If a seizure disorder is a brain disorder, then that didn't develop until I got into my 30's. My hearing has gotten worse over the years to the point that I need hearing aids for both ears. My point is if I wasn't technically born with any of these issues that doctors could have detected, could they have developed as a result and worsened over time.

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Already taken care of!

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Well-said.

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As I’ve said elsewhere, I went to school with kids paralyzed by polio and I was hospitalized with measles as an infant. I have to wonder how many kids this will happen to again before people wake up. Thank Jay for calling this out.

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I had two good friends die from post polio syndrome when they were adults. One died after giving birth and the other lost ability to talk and breathe. As a child I went to a camp for handicap children in the '60's, some but not all were there as a result of not being vaccinated.

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My father went deaf because of measles!

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That sucks.

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Anti science anti vaxxers will get us all killed. It was great when Biden fired all government workers who refused to get life saving COVID vaccines or following the science. The final stage of Trump grief is resistance, not acceptance - we are not going back! https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/trump-resist-five-stages-of-grief

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Unfortunately, it appears that we are, indeed, "going back."

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I suspect they'll target Gardasil, as that's a vaccine that misogynists especially hate.

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And it's a vaccine that can prevent multiple kinds of cancer (cervical, head, neck, etc), in both women AND men. Which makes it even more mindboggling to target.

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You guys keep thinking that facts matter to those imbeciles.

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We know facts don't matter to them which is mind-boggling because some of these people have advanced degrees. It's sad that they jumped into the conspiracy pool and never left it. It's also frustrating because of all the lives they're destroying in the process.

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I also know some very educated people (won’t call them smart, because if they were smart they wouldn’t support him), who are full in on MAGA world - I’ll never understand them, or the ones who constantly vote against their own best interest. And I am angry about the collateral damage that is coming for the innocents. We’re all going to be dragged down.

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I am so happy I got that when I was a teenager right after it came out (thanks, Mom!). The mental relief of knowing I'm protected from certain cancers and HPV strains cannot be overstated, and it makes me sick to think there are teens/young adults who may not be able to get it.

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Just saw this article today!! "HPV vaccine cutting cervical cancer by nearly 90%"

Gardasil was approved in 2006 so there now are 18+ years of data about the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59148620

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You should also contact your Rep from the House

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______. I’m hearing that Medicare coverage for telehealth is set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress acts. Telehealth is really important to patients like me, and I’m calling to urge the Congressmember to do everything possible to extend coverage. Thanks.

Also, I’m worried about RFK Jr.’s nomination to run HHS. I want the Congressmember to speak out against it even though s/he can’t vote on it. RFK Jr. opposes lifesaving vaccines and has pledged to stop funding research on treatments and cures for deadly diseases. He also lacks the experience necessary to manage major health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Please ask the Congressmember to vocally oppose his confirmation. Thanks.

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Done. Thanks for that script. I know that my congressmembers are all Republicans, but I will make noise--I'm still a constituent!

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That's the spirit!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉❤️❤️❤️❤️

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Keep up the fight❣️💙💙💙

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I just called both my senators asking them to oppose Hegseth, Patel, Gabbard, and RFK. I believe they both recognize how horrible those 4 nominees are and plan to oppose them, but it helps if senators get hundreds/thousands/millions of calls from constituents on key votes like these. Please call your senators!

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Done!!!! I have my reps info on speed dial

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"I'm not an immunologist, I just play one on television"; "I'm not an epidemiologist, I just play one on television"; "I'm not a virologist, I just play one on television"...and on and on. Welcome to Dr. tRump's "World of Medicine", where a MD degree, peer-reviewed publications, or clinical practice background is NOT who we're looking for, but rather multiple appearances on FoxNews as the determinant.

Oh, and you mean to bring back the Iron Lung and metal braces on children's legs AREN'T a fun way to go through childhood? Huh! You want autism instead?

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Polio indisputably leads to iron lungs and/or metal braces and/or death. There is no scientific, peer-reviewed evidence linking autism to vaccines, just a lot of uneducated nut jobs and narcissists who start their sentences with "I think..." when there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.

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I seriously do not understand why they have latched onto vaccines. I'm not religious, but they're basically a miracle. It is probably the most studied potential cause of autism (or other conditions), and the evidence is conclusive that it's complete nonsense. I'm much more worried about pesticides and air pollution in terms of how it impacts people's health and the evidence that those things cause harm is much stronger. Why don't they focus on those instead and leave our vaccines alone?

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There was and still is a flood of misinformation pumped regularly through social media on Twitter and later on Tik Tok. And back in the days when Twitter had the APIs that permitted programmers to extract and study the data, I followed some data scientists that traced it back to accounts that were know to be IRA, the Russian Kremlin paid trolls. Eventually their lies were internalized and now we have our own crazed anti-vaxxers natively transplanted, IRA doesn't even have to bother anymore.

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There is also post polio syndrome. Polio can return in middle age. This happened to my cousin, who had polio at age 12. Her spine began to collapse sideways in her mid-50’s. My friend’s husband has painful knees due to childhood polio. Another person I knew had one leg shorter than the other and had to have one shoe built up.

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I have heard of that happening. Polio has the potential to act like herpes: the gift that keeps on giving. Stick the anti-vaxxers in an iron lung for a few weeks and see what they say about the experience!

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My mom had polio as a baby. She's 97 now. So way before there was a vax. She was lucky and it only messed up one foot. Post polio in her 50s made it worse except that she was correctly diagnosed as a polio sufferer. Her mom always swore she never had it. But the doctor looked at her foot and age and said, yes, you had polio and this is post polio. She was able to get some surgeries but her foot is still messed up and she has to buy two different pairs of shoes since there is a 2 full size difference between her feet.

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But don't you understand, MAGA like children who are in iron lungs, leg braces, or dead.

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MAGA doesn’t care about anyone but themselves. It’s easier cognitively to believe hey my baby got so many vaccines during their early years and now they are autistic it must be the vaccine. They don’t understand that correlation doesn’t equal causation. Also they likely believe that illnesses and disabilities are due to something that person did wrong and you know they are perfect and their baby is perfect so it must be something that was done to them.

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Once born, children don’t matter to Republicans. It is the birth that they hold “sacred”

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Absolutely true - after all, no child is more important than the 2nd Amendment.

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What's the next grift? Trump branded iron lungs? JHC!

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For an up charge, your iron lung can be painted gold!

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And Donnie will autograph it with his tiny paw holding a Sharpie.

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Gold plated, his signature, 5 grand extra.

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When I read the article in the NYT it felt as though I had entered a crazy house from which escape is becoming more and more impossible. If the senate approves the brain worm infested rfk,Jr the effects of the 2024 election will become even more horrifying. I hope the people concerned for "groceries" realize they have been conned. My guess is that all the people sucking up to the orange felon intend on making a killing...first by showing thousands of immigrants the door and stealing whatever they are forced to leave behind, and making generations too sick to be able to physically or mentally able to fight the oligarchic class. But hey...maybe eggs will be affordable at 4.50 a dozen and unlike the old woman of the felon's favorite story, you will be able to buy 3 apples instead of just 2...that is if there are farmers left able to grow apples. Meanwhile the oligarchic class will be investing in iron lungs, the prison industrial complex, and the private school industrial complex. One day Americans will rejoice as Syrians finally are today now that their brutal dictator and thief has been deposed.

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I feel the same way. As to eggs, there's a very simple solution for these people: get chickens and quit complaining. Plus, when the chicken gets old, you can turn it into chicken soup when you do fall ill.

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As an aside, rump said he came up with the word "groceries" and now people are using that word, when interviewed on Meet The Press. ughhh....

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That the media reporting such idiocy normalize it infuriates me and probably all with any notion of TRUTH as the reality. They never ridicule such statements. Ridicule. The emperor has no clothes!

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It's so hard for me to react to Trump knowing he's insane, and I don't mean that in an exaggerated, hyperbolic sense. This is not a critique of the very lucid, necessary, and understandable reaction of this post to his madness. It's just that what is happening is beyond my comprehension, and I may need smelling salts soon.

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Please keep in mind that Trump is flooding the zone with shit day in and day out. Trump and his henchmen will run into a barrage of regulation and law as they try to destroy our country. In the meantime do what you can. In this case make sure you’re up to date on all vaccines. Start with the CDC website for guidance or contact your primary care provider.

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I've been vaxxed so many times I have two heads. :-)

One for rants, the other for keeping my sense of humor.

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😁

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And I have to wonder how much the Biden administration is doing quietly in the background to shore up the resources to assure all this bs won't come to fruition - or at least with less dire consequences.

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Biden has appointed 233 judges as of this week, a majority of whom are people of color.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/biden-judicial-nominees-federal-judges-people-color-black-judges-rcna182847

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I hope they make all these cases difficult to get to trial since they're all so "unprecedented" and tie up the court systems for 4 years. Hopefully donnie will be gone off the planet by then, along with leon who can fly them both to Mars.

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Yes, get up to date on all of your vaccines asap. Plus, if you've considered buying something that might be an import item, do it before Jan. 20. However, I won't be surprised if sellers up their prices on non-imported items as well.

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We may have to start checking with the Canadian version of the CDC starting in February.

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Just reading the transcripts of his blather should be evidence enough for any level of reading comprehension that the derp is unable to cognitively form a thought into actual words.

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Makes me wonder why I bothered to get a degree in psychology. Now I have my giant DSM-5 to carry around but the most severely mentally deranged narcissist was elected by the people in this country, TWICE!

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You can use your DSM-5 to evaluate the people around you. We're all at least half-baked from what has been happening. I know I am.

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In my day Donnie would have been diagnosed with a Learning Disability. But we know Daddy paid off the school and never signed the permission for assessment

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I don't like swearing here. Jay's work deserves better. But nothing, nothing in the entire goddamn world turns me into a wounded pirate like those GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING LYING PIECE OF SHIT ANTI-VAXXERS!

RFK Jr literally became anti-vax because his son is autistic and he refuses to acknowledge that being on the spectrum appears to be at least partially genetic. No, he would much rather believe one of the stupidest fucking lies in human history than admit that he's not a perfect human being. (Despite him being quite happy to say that the only time he ever felt calm and in control was WHEN HE WAS ADDICTED TO FUCKING HEROIN.) And as a direct result children fucking DIED! And Trump is quite happy to have him repeat the feat!

If RFK Jr died in a car crash tomorrow I'd celebrate. The sooner he and every other shitlord peddling this crap dies, the sooner us autistic people can get on with living our lives!

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You tell 'em, Tristram!!

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Thank you! I hated this nonsense LONG before I got my ASD diagnosis because I am Massive Science Nerd, and afterwards it was doubly insulting because being used to hurt other people's kids is just offensive.

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That's an angle I haven't heard before. Jay, have you got this? Some autistic people don't like being used to hurt other people!!! We need a movement.

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I was thinking the same thing while reading Jay's blog. FUCK FUCK FUCK them all. And I am usually strongly opposed to using language like that.

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Hear, hear!

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I’m old enough to remember the terrible polio outbreaks in summers, then getting the vaccine at my school. One of my most indelible memories is actually meeting Jonas Salk and shaking his hand when I was twelve. These anti-vax nuts will be bringing a world of hurt on Americans if they continue down that road!

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Other countries should declare now that they will enforce vaccination restrictions for entry into their country. I'll petition my member of parliament.

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A good article, but please do not call Andrew Wakefield's disinformation a theory. This is why so many people discredit real scientific theories like germ theory and evolution. People think scientific theories are guesses that are not backed by real data because we use the word in this way.

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