Archive for the 'Health & Well Being' Category

Just Noticing: Observations of a blogger

Posted by Michelle Moquin on 6th April 2014

Good morning!

“Just noticing…”

“…Obama has had another first.”

Zero U.S. Troops Died In Combat In March, The First Time In More Than A Decade

Caleb L. Erickson

March 2014 marked the first time in more than a decade that there were zero U.S. fatalities among American troops engaging in combat, according to numbers from the Department of Defense.

After a decade at war in the post-9/11 environment, with major wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and smaller conflicts in the various other countries where the U.S. uses more covert methods to fight against terrorism, the lack of combat deaths in March 2014 marks a milestone. In Iraq, the death toll reached 4,474 before thelast soldier fell in November 2011. For years after the war’s launch in 2003, no months passed where at least one American didn’t die in battle and then only towards the end of the conflict did the numbers taper off enough to have a month where the only fatalities were non-combat related.

Based on information collected at the website iCasualties, which pulls from Pentagon data, it is the first time since July 2007 that no Americans were killed in Afghanistan in support of Operation: Enduring Freedom. The worst single month for U.S. forces in that conflict was July 2010, amid the summer fighting season, during which 65 Americans died. At that point, 98,000 American forces were stationed in Afghanistan amid the surge of 30,000 additional soldiers into the country. To date, 2176 U.S. military personnel have lost their life in Afghanistan.

While this marks a low point in deaths among American soldiers, the same cannot be said of the coalition forces fighting alongside the U.S. — two allied soldiers died over the course of the month. It also doesn’t mean that the situation in the two countries the United States has fought wars in over the last country are also free from strife. As NATO forces prepare to withdraw combat troops at the end of the year, violence in Afghanistan is currently threatening the ability of observers to verify its pending election. And in Iraq, 16 civilians died in an attack just this weekend. (HT: Kevin Sieff)

“Just noticing…”

“…and another first for Obama.“

From Think Progress:

The ACA Has Spurred The Largest Expansion In Health Coverage In America In Half A Century

surge

MARCH 31, 2014 AT 5:41 PM

Today marks the last day of the six-month open enrollment period for people to get insurance coverage through the state and federal marketplaces. Despite technical challenges and staunch ideological opposition, it has already been a huge success with over six million people enrolling. But in the last several days, the interest in signing up and the outreach efforts to those not yet covered has reached new heights.

Take a look at the final surge by the numbers:

9.5 Million: Number Of Uninsured That Now Have Insurance Thanks To The ACA. A new analysis of enrollment data has found that almost ten million people who were previously without health insurance now are covered. The report estimates that two million have enrolled in private coverage on the new marketplaces; about 4.5 million previously uninsured people have gained public coverage through Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion; and about three million previously uninsured young people are now covered on their parents’ insurance plans. The law, as written by the Los Angeles Times, “has spurred the largest expansion in health coverage in America in half a century.”
10 million: Number Of Visits To Heathcare.gov In The Past Week. The Washington Post tallied 8.7 million in the past week through Monday morning, with 2 million visiting this weekend alone. Today, the Department of Health and Human Services tweeted that there had been another 1.2 million visitors just by noon–”record volume.”
125,000: The Number Of Concurrent Users On Healthcare.gov On Monday. An unprecedented level of traffic on the website has led to an unprecedented number of people using the site to sign up for health insurance.
4,000: Number Of Grassroots Events To Help People Enroll In March.For all the money spent over the airwaves, grassroots organizing was a huge component of outreach efforts to get people signed up for coverage. Events took place all over the country, with a focus on reaching the uninsured to make sure they had the information they needed to enroll.
300: Number of Radio Interviews Administration Officials Have Given In The Past Six Weeks. While there have been enormous efforts to use new media to promote the law, good old-fashioned radio has been a go-to source for top White House officials: from Chief-of-Staff Denis McDonough and Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett to President Obama himself.
49 Percent: Public Support For The ACA. According to a ABC News/Washington Post poll out today, support for the law is at 49 percent, its highest level in months. Back in November, just 40 percent supported and 57 percent opposed the law; today the picture looks much different:

acasurge

BOTTOM LINE: If there’s any indication that the Affordable Care Act is in high demand, this is it. The law is working, it’s here to stay, and it’s delivering on its promise to provide quality, affordable health coverage that will be there when consumers need it most. Conservatives will continue their repeal-at-all-costs agenda, but the success of these past six months will make it harder because people do not want to go back to the way it was.

*****

What’s next President Obama?

Readers: I can see yesterday’s topic brought up a lot of controversy for many of you. I found reading your diverse writes even more interesting than the original write itself, which doesn’t surprise me considering the quality of readers that visit here. So, again, thanks for being here, sharing your thoughts, and contributing to the conversations. All of you truly make this blog an exciting, and thought-provoking place to visit.

Social Butterfly: My pleasure. Nice to hear from you. No worries.

I think Lupita is gorgeous too. Her comment about being inspired by Alek Wek, because they look similar, brought to mind a memory that I every so often look back on for inspiration in my work, because it left such an impression on me. I remember seeing Wek in a fashion spread for the first time many years ago, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the magazine pages. I believe the entire feature was of her dressed in white, at least that is the part I remember. The white clothing against her dark skin playing off her bright white teeth and the whites of her eyes was absolutely mesmerizing. The most wonderful example of high contrast was simply stunning. And here in this video, Nyong’o is replicating that gorgeous look. It will be interesting to see how the ripple of inspiration and HOPE continues.

Alycedale: Happy to see you here again giving your two. I HOPE all is well with you.

Happy Sunday – Peace & Love.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

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“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream

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Posted in Health & Well Being, Political Powwow | 17 Comments »

Flap Your Lips Friday

Posted by Michelle Moquin on 4th April 2014

Good morning!

More of the same same…

From Think Progress:

How The Supreme Court Just Legalized Money Laundering By Rich Campaign Donors

Republican Billionaire Sheldon Adelson

CREDIT: AP PHOTO/KIN CHEUNG

Chief Justice John Roberts begins his opinion in McCutcheon v. FEC with a flourish: “[t]here is no right more basic in our democracy than the right to participate in electing our political leaders.” He then spends the next forty pages explaining why that participation includes the right of rich people to attempt to buy elections. Thanks to the decision Roberts and his four fellow conservative justices handed down today (Though Thomas did not join Roberts’ opinion, he wrote a more radical opinion calling for all limits on campaign donations to be eviscerated), wealthy donors now have a broad new power to launder money to political candidates — they just have to be a bit creative about how they do it.

Prior to Wednesday’s opinion, federal law placed two complementary limits on campaign donors. During the current election cycle, donors may give no more than $5,200 per election cycle ($2,600 for the primary and another $2,600 for the general) to a given federal candidate, and there are also higher limits on how much they can give to party committees and political action committees. These limits remain intact.

What McCutcheon invalidates are aggregate limits on the total amount of money that donors may give to all federal candidates ($48,600) and to all political committees ($74,600). Thus, before Wednesday, donors could spend as much as $123,200 seeking to influence the 2014 election cycle — now they can spend as much as they want. Make no mistake, this decision benefits no one except for a handful of very wealthy donors (and the candidates they give to). Who else can say that they’ve already given more than a hundred thousand dollars worth of donations and that they are upset that they cannot give even more?

A major purpose of the aggregate limits was to prevent money laundering schemes that could enable donors and political parties to evade the cap on donations to individual candidates. In dissent, Justice Stephen Breyer lays out what some of these schemes could look like. The Democratic or Republican Party, in one example, may set up a “Joint Party Committee” consisting of all three of their national party committees and a state party committee from each of the 50 states. Under McCutcheon, a single donor may now give as much as $1.2 million to this joint committee, which would then be distributed to the various smaller party organizations.

Once the money is distributed, however, it can legally be redistributed to the races where it is likely to have the most impact. Thus, for example, the Republican Party committees in safe red states like Idaho, Utah or Mississippi — where large infusions of money aren’t exactly needed to win elections — can redistribute their funds to battleground states like Ohio or Florida. Meanwhile, blue state Democratic committees in Vermont and Rhode Island can do the same.

Similarly, the same wealthy donor might decide to write a maximum dollar donation to every single Republican House and Senate candidate in the country — perhaps by writing a single $2.4 million check to the same “Joint Party Committee” which then distributes the funds. Once this money is distributed, candidates in safe seats can then redistribute at least some of it to candidates in disputed seats — and the rest can frequently be used to benefit candidates in tough races through “coordinated expenditures.”

Roberts denies that these money laundering schemes will actually arise, but many of the arguments he raises to defend this point betray his own naiveté how modern elections work. The Chief Justice argues, for example, that for these money laundering schemes to work a donor would have to engage in “illegal earmarking” — federal law prohibits a donor from “directing funds ‘through an intermediary or conduit’ to a particular candidate.” But a wealthy donor does not need to earmark his donations for these money laundering schemes to work. Indeed, it is in both the donor’s interest and the party’s interest if the donor does not do so. A donor will typically want his money to go to the candidates who are most likely to benefit from his money — those in closely contested races. By donating to a joint party committee, the donor gives their party more flexibility to redirect their money to the candidates who appear most in need as the election approaches.

Similarly, Roberts claims that “[t]he Government provides no reason to believe that many state parties would willingly participate in a scheme to funnel money to another State’s candidates.” But this argument assumes that each state Democratic or Republican Party is an island. If Republicans control the Senate, Mississippi’s Republican senators have more clout and Mississippi Republicans benefit. The same applies to Rhode Island’s Democratic senators when Democrats control the Senate. America has two national parties and it has a national legislature. When Iowa elects Republicans to Congress, that makes it more likely that Republicans in Mississippi will see their preferred policies enacted into law.

Roberts does, however, raise one fairly strong argument in support of his belief that wealthy donors will not resort to complicated money laundering schemes — thanks to the line of cases culminating in Citizens United, they won’t have to. Before McCutcheon, wealthy donors basically had free reign to spend as much money as they wanted seeking to influence elections, just as long as they give that money to “independent” organizations such as super PACs. In light of this body of law, why would a candidate resort to an elaborate money laundering scheme when they can simply write a check to the super PAC of their choice?

It’s a good question, and not an easy one to answer. But it’s hardly an argument for eliminating even more limits on how far the wealthy can go to influence elections. If allowing a single person to spend millions of dollars to change the outcome of an election is a bad idea, then it is a bad idea no matter what kind of legal regime permits that spending to take place.

*****

Readers: I guess it’s that time again. Here are Anonz’s exact words as he posted them years ago. It was his comment in response to some readers who were upset over his wealth and the ways that he has continually attained it. I’ve printed them before. However, in light of the continued conversation and the political climate around this election year, I thought it was a good idea to print them again.

Anonz’s advice on how to stop him and others like him:

(ANONZ) Destroy it by; (1) insisting that special interest groups not be allowed to lobby congress. (2) Out law PAC’s political contributions (3) get your Congress to fix the opinion rendered by the bought and paid for 6 of the Supreme Court who ruled that corporations can spend as much as they want on political issues and candidates.

I can now buy any candidate in either House. I can influence any law to my benefit. I can influence you and most americans to believe what I wish about any issue. Your crooked Supreme Court gave me the right to spend any amount of money to influence the passage or any issue.

Criticizing me may make you feel good, but it has no affect on anything I do. Voting to eliminate the people who keep the likes of me from being regulated would be effective in stopping me from profiting at your expense.

But I have no fear of that because you secretly envy the money and power I have. You dream of being one of us, so you allow us to have unfettered access to to the profit trough.

Sure I have more money that I will every be able to spend, but if you are too stupid to regulate me, and too stupid to make me pay my fair share of taxes, and if you continue to allow me to set up corporations with all the rights of a living person, I WILL CONTINUE TO GET RICHER AT YOUR EXPENSE.

And unfortunately, I will continue to brag, boast, be in your face about your STUPIDITY. Deciding whether to rant against me or to vote against me will determine whether you will wise up or remain a mat for me to wipe my feet on as I stroll to that feeding trough.

!!!!!!!

It’s obvious enough of us didn’t heed his advice because it hasn’t gotten much better since he posted those words; it’s gotten worse. I’m HOPEing by reposting them again, it will piss off enough to inspire action. Thoughts? Opinions? Blog me.

Alycedale: For some reason, you just popped into my mind. Are you still reading? I HOPE so, and I HOPE you are well.

PeaCE OuT.

BLOG UPDATE:

The blog url address, has changed from .com to .net. The new address is blog.michellemoquin.net. So, although there is a redirect from blog.michellemoquin.com to blog.michellemoquin.net, please take note and change your bookmarks bar to go directly to blog.michellemoquin.net. Thank you.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

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Thank you for your loyal support!

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream

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Posted in Health & Well Being, Human Rights and Equality, Political Powwow | 60 Comments »

What’s in your footlong?

Posted by Michelle Moquin on 1st April 2014

Good morning!

Subway Footlong-’Shoe Rubber’ Chemical Removed From Subway Bread Found In Nearly 500 Common Foods

Footlong fans breathed a sigh of relief at the beginning of February, when sandwich chain Subway announced that it was removing azodicarbonamide — a chemical used in shoe rubber and yoga mats — from its bread.

Though the World Health Organization has said that the chemical is safe for human consumption, some studies have suggested it could be linked with asthma and skin and respiratory problems. And when the chemical is baked, it forms another chemical that has been linked to cancer in animal studies, CBS News pointed out. A series of popular petitions circulated by blogger Vana Hari, who runs the website FoodBabe.com, have also argued the case that its efficacy as a “bleaching agent” in bread just isn’t worth the potential health hazards.

It’s been well-established at this point that azodicarbonamide is a relatively common ingredient in processed foods. But a newly released study by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit, suggests that azodicarbonamide is far more common than we may have realized. EWG pored through the ingredient lists of more than 80,000 common grocery foods in an attempt to figure out which products contained the chemical. Andthey found it in nearly 500 items sold under 120 different brand names.

The list of foods runs the gamut from the “healthy” — Weight Watchers meals, Fiber One breads — to the obviously processed and indulgent — Entenmann’s pastries, White Castle Cheeseburgers. You can see the whole thing on the EWG website. But we picked 13 highlights that caught our attention as we browsed through the list. Read more on the EWG website.

*****

Blog me.

BLOG UPDATE:

The blog url address, that has changed from .com to .net. The new address is blog.michellemoquin.net. So, although there is a redirect from blog.michellemoquin.com to blog.michellemoquin.net, please take note and change your bookmarks bar to go directly to blog.michellemoquin.net.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Posted in Health & Well Being, I'll drink to that! Let's eat! | 66 Comments »

Today is the Last Day – Are you signed up yet?

Posted by Michelle Moquin on 31st March 2014

Good morning!

From Think Progress:

6 Million and Counting

Obamacare Hits Enrollment Target With Days To Spare

On Thursday, President Obama announced on a call with volunteers that the number of Americans who have enrolled in health insurance plans under Obamacare has hit six million.

With days to spare before open enrollment ends on March 31, this Monday night at midnight EST, the administration has met its target. Just eleven days ago, the Obama administration announced that enrollments had hit five million— meaning that the pace of enrollment has significantly picked up recently, and a million Americans enrolled in less than two weeks.

The success of open enrollment undermines critics who seized on the law’s troubled early rollout to predict that law could never attract enough Americans to succeed. Below are some of the worst predictions after the administration published the first enrollment figures in November of 2013:

1. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

“Above all, this report is a symbol of the failure of the President’s health care law… It is a rolling calamity that must be scrapped. [CNN]

2. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)

“Pretty stunning…Just another day in a series of mess-ups in Obamacare.”

3. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)

4. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

“But this Administration will trudge ahead. Keep the doors open. Thousands of people enrolled instead of millions. They just released a number this week for the 36 states using the malfunctioning federal Exchange. Fewer than 27,000 people. Including people who haven’t actually committed to purchase the plans … those who have put it in their shopping cart….So the Administration will limp along with this pitiful sign up process hoping to get people properly assigned to health plans.

5. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-OH)

He called the numbers “staggeringly low.”

6. Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC)

7. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

“The 27,000 enrollments through federally facilitated exchange pale in comparison to the millions of Americans who have lost their health insurance under ObamaCare… It is time for the president to finally acknowledge ObamaCare isn’t working and to delay the law, in fairness to families and individuals.”

8. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)

“The numbers released today are indicative of failure. Not just the failure of a website, but a failure of the underlying law, a failure to keep promises to the American people, and, above all, a failure of leadership.”

9. Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS)

“Today, we learned only 371 Kansans have been able to successfully sign up [in October] for a health care plan on the federally run Obamacare exchange. And only a mere 106,185 total Americans have been able to sign up on both the federal and state exchanges across the country. These numbers are abysmal; the administration has not met even 25 percent of its enrollment goal for the first month.”

10. Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA)

11. Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR)

12. Rep. David Camp (R-MI)

“Even if this data was an accurate picture, the administration would need to enroll 68,000 people per day to meet their year-end goal…However, the website isn’t even designed to handle that much traffic and is currently capable of only handling less than half that much… With the little data we have so far, I fear we could see a fundamental breakdown of the insurance market with coverage gaps and skyrocketing premiums – pricing millions of Americans out of health care, yet still forced to pay the individual mandate tax.”

Still In Line? You Have More Time: Although open enrollment technically ends on Monday, there will be time to help you complete the process. On Wednesday, the administration announced that the people who have experienced technological difficulties will be allowed to complete their enrollment in April.

Haven’t Sign Up Yet? Go to healthcare.gov today to find a plan that works for you and your budget. Then – tell a friend to do the same.

*****

Readers: You’ve got one day left. Sign up.

So happy all of you enjoyed the video yesterday. The law of attraction is at work. Now that I have discovered the very inspiring and courageous Maysoon Zayid, I’ve been seeing her name everywhere! Love it, because she is definitely a girl that I want to follow.

Peace & Love.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Posted in Health & Well Being | 21 Comments »

To Vaccinate or Not To Vaccinate?

Posted by Michelle Moquin on 28th March 2014

That is the question.

Good morning!

From Think Progress:

Measles Is Spreading In Our Largest Cities Because People Aren’t Vaccinating Their Kids

vaccine

New York City is currently grappling with a measles outbreak. Health officials have identified 16 cases of the highly contagious infectious disease, resulting in at least six hospitalizations, and are now warning unvaccinated individuals that they need to get their shots.

And New York isn’t the only place where measles — which was once so rare that it was virtually eradicated in the U.S. back in 2000 — is cropping up again. Within the past two months, health officials have also identified cases in the Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, and Dallas areas. Measles have also recently been reported in suburban areas in Connecticut and Illinois.

Just one case of measles can pose a huge public health threat, since it has the potential to be transmitted quickly. It can spread through the air when an infected individual coughs or sneezes. For instance, last month, thousands of California commuters were potentially exposed to the disease after an unvaccinated man with the measles rode public transportation.

Many of the measles outbreaks here in the U.S. originate after an unvaccinated individual has traveled abroad and contracted the disease there. Then, when they return to this country, they can spread measles among pockets of other unvaccinated people. This isn’t an issue if most people simply get the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella. That’s why San Francisco didn’t experience a larger outbreak after the recent public transportation scare there — the rates of MMR vaccination in that city are high.

But, thanks to ongoing anti-vaccine propaganda, that’s not necessarily the case everywhere. An increasing number of parents are choosing to forgo their kids’ MMR shot based on scientifically inaccurate claims that it can lead to autism. The actress and model Jenny McCarthy, who’s a prominent anti-vaccine activist, has a lot to do with that. By 2008, about one in four adults reported they were familiar with McCarthy’s views about vaccines, and 40 percent of them said her claims led them to question vaccine safety. This issue hasn’t died down since then; just this week, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and his wife, former reality TV star Kristin Cavallari, said they won’t vaccinate their kids over fears about autism.

Federal health officials have already been able to connect the dots here. Last fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a report warning that anti-vaccine beliefs have fueled a rise in measles cases. Researchers noted that 2013 saw the highest number of measles cases in nearly two decades, and 80 percent of those cases occurred among unvaccinated people — most of whom cited “philosophical differences” with the MMR vaccine.

“I hope that those who are vaccine hesitant or vaccine avoidant realize there are consequences to their actions,” Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University who partnered with the CDC to publicize the release of that report, said back in September. “None of us lives in isolation.”

Nonetheless, this continues to be a contentious issue on the state level. Vaccine requirements vary, and some states allow parents to easily opt their kids out of the necessary shots by simply signing a form. Even though vaccine exemptions have been directly tied to infectious disease outbreaks, some state residents continue to resist efforts to crack down on those loopholes.

?????

It’s Friday…What’s your answer. Tell me your thoughts. Blog me.

BLOG UPDATE:

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

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Blog me.

Obamacare Hits Enrollment Target With Days To Spare

1. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

2. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)

3. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)

5. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-OH)

6. Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC)

7. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

8. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)

9. Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS)

10. Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA)

12. Rep. David Camp (R-MI)

That is the question.

It’s Friday…What’s your answer. Tell me your thoughts. Blog me.