this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2025
741 points (99.6% liked)

Not The Onion

14119 readers
2382 users here now

Welcome

We're not The Onion! Not affiliated with them in any way! Not operated by them in any way! All the news here is real!

The Rules

Posts must be:

  1. Links to news stories from...
  2. ...credible sources, with...
  3. ...their original headlines, that...
  4. ...would make people who see the headline think, “That has got to be a story from The Onion, America’s Finest News Source.”

Comments must abide by the server rules for Lemmy.world and generally abstain from trollish, bigoted, or otherwise disruptive behavior that makes this community less fun for everyone.

And that’s basically it!

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prominent Republican congresswoman and a staunch ally of Trump, suggested a return to "measles parties" for children. She criticized contemporary attitudes towards vaccination, stating, "Now, they demonize parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids."

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Zexks@lemmy.world 13 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

They’re not going to learn until they’re charged and convicted of homicide.

[–] madcnt@lemm.ee 1 points 9 hours ago

To be honest. They not going to learn until we address the people who enable her. The useful idiots, the ones who promote her for their own gains. Psy ops.

[–] Kalysta@lemm.ee 5 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Thought the bitch was pro life? This seems quite anti-life to me.

[–] AJ1@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 hours ago

Thought the bitch was pro life?

That's a question? No, I didn't. Thanks for asking.

[–] leadore@lemmy.world 39 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (2 children)

I was a kid when they were first developing the vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella (we called it German measles). So my brothers and I all got every one of them. I remember being sick with them, and with one of the measles types (don't remember which) I was so sick I though I was gonna die. I'll never forget lying there, even thinking of certain things made me puke (or dry heave) so I had to concentrate on not thinking of anything. I remember puking so hard it came out my nose. One of my brothers was so sick, his fever was so high, they took him to the hospital.

Do parents really want to put their children through this instead of a shot? WTF

[–] RymrgandsDaughter@lemmy.world 12 points 14 hours ago

should be child abuse

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 4 points 16 hours ago

Just some of the ones that were vaccinated against measles.

[–] GladiusB@lemmy.world 18 points 15 hours ago

Jesus Christ she is a fucking moron

[–] medgremlin@midwest.social 49 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

I spent SO MUCH TIME during my pediatrics clinical rotation explaining vaccines to new parents. In some cases, I sat there for a literal hour and debunked myths and conspiracy theories in order to get the parents to consider maybe doing a delayed vaccination schedule. I'm a medical student, so my time is basically worthless and I viewed this as a good use of it, but it was so incredibly frustrating to have to do over and over.

For other folks who know anti-vax parents (new or not), here's the best line of argument I came up with:

Vaccines have been around for a very long time now, and the only changes we've made to them recently is to make them better and safer. The preservatives in them like the mercury compound are perfectly safe, but we've still worked hard to improve the manufacturing process to minimize the need for those preservatives and make the vaccines as pure as possible.

Vaccines are made of little fragments of the virus or bacteria, or a modified, significantly weaker version of the pathogen to give your child's immune system a chance to see it before the real thing shows up. It's like giving your child's immune system a wanted poster or a punching bag to practice on because it has to make special tools to fight each different pathogen.

The reason we load kids up with so many vaccines in the first year or two of life is because their immune systems are still growing and it's an optimal time to introduce things for it to prepare for, and we want to give them some protection of their own before the antibodies from mom run out around 6 to 12 months of life.

We have decades of data showing that vaccines are safe and effective, and the complications and side effects are so minor compared to the problems that can come from the disease. And it's usually around 1000:1 ratio of complications from the disease versus complications from the vaccine, and the vaccine complications are almost always less severe than the complications from the disease.

If you refuse vaccination for your child for reasons besides an anaphylactic allergy to the ingredients, you are gambling your child's life with most of these diseases, and it would have been an entirely preventable death. Vaccines are very hard to make and we have prioritized making vaccines for the diseases that kill children. We don't bother making vaccines for things that are just a nuisance, so the vaccines we have exist for very good reasons. For the most famous example, measles has about 5 different ways it can kill your child that are impossible to treat or prevent once they have it, and many ways to cause permanent damage. The known and most common side effects of the measles vaccine are pretty mild and can be easily treated with medications we have available.

[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 13 points 15 hours ago

Another worth noting is if an antivaxxer says "we don't know what they put into vaccines", respond with "we don't know what they put in painkillers and yet you take them no problem". Nine times out of ten, these antivaxxers would take painkillers willy nilly without question. Saying this makes them question their line of thought. Heck, the same could be said just about anything. We don't know what cooks in restaurants put into the food we ordered, and yet there is no significant movement advocating to stop ordering takeaways or eating outside of home.

[–] Lemminary@lemmy.world 12 points 17 hours ago (3 children)

The sad thing about debunking is that you need to have direct contact with the person under a delusion to build rapport and need to be quite knowledgeable about the topic, but planting the the delusion can be done at a large scale by any eloquent doofus with time to spare. It's so frustrating.

[–] Bamboodpanda@lemmy.world 8 points 17 hours ago

It is always harder to build than to destroy.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] limelight79@lemm.ee 4 points 14 hours ago

We had our cats in for their annual checkups a few years back, and the vet noted they were due for their vaccinations. The way she said it, we could hear she was bracing for an argument. I wonder if someone had laid into her about it earlier that day.

We, of course, had the vaccinations done, much to her relief.

[–] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

bet she won't be censured for "decorum violations".

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 12 points 15 hours ago

Grab her and plop her down in the middle of one the hotspots and don't let her out

[–] Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world 38 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (5 children)

Just had a thought. What if we took a insignificant amount of the virus and injected it into people. This would allow them to develop antibodies so that if they do become exposed they are ready to fight it.

Probably safer then just exposing people to the virus. Could also do it to enough people that it virtually eradicates the virus.

Just an idea. We would also have to do a bunch of testing and have a bunch of regulations around it. Just to prove there isn't any unwarranted side effects.

[–] Rakudjo@lemmy.world 18 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

If something like that worked, scientists would have done it by now.

Youre right. Sorry. I'm so dumb.

[–] skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kionasmith/2021/01/20/how-ben-franklin-went-from-anti-vaxxer-to-advocate/

Ben Franklin was anti-vax, but came around. Also these fuckwits are so dumb that they don't know vaccines have been around throughout when America was "great" and way beyond.

[–] flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 1 points 12 hours ago

In his defense, in 1721 vaccines were really a new unproven technology. And if you don't know it works, or even what causes diseases in the first place, it's reasonable to be skeptical. It's also reasonable to change your mind when you see it does really work.

[–] Lemminary@lemmy.world 6 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

I have a better idea. What if we take the genetic code of the virus, inject it into people and have their own bodies produce many more virus particles so they get a stronger and more targeted immune response? Who knows, someone could win an important prize for that.

[–] Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world 5 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

I read this comment and became autistic. Becareful people science makes you spicy.

[–] killabeezio@lemm.ee 5 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

I don't know if I should laugh or cry. What a timeline to be in right now.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] brezel@piefed.social 10 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I fully agree, i think all trump voters should go to measles parties.

[–] PaperTowel@lemm.ee 6 points 15 hours ago

Their kids shouldn't suffer though

[–] Wispy2891@lemmy.world 12 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Pro Life only until it's born, then fuck that Life

[–] imvii@lemmy.ca 8 points 17 hours ago

They aren't pro-life. They are forced birth. It isn't about the baby, it's about power over women.

[–] PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world 19 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Measles isn't fucking chicken pox…

[–] tbs9000@lemmy.world 4 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Don’t even take chicken pox lightly. It gives you shingles later in life. I have epilepsy as a result of getting chicken pox.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world 12 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (2 children)

The future seems not that bad now that I know we won't be seeing an entire generation of Republicans

[–] Moah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 17 hours ago

We've been thinking that for three generations and somehow they're still here

[–] PanArab@lemm.ee 6 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

They are children! They are victims here.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 23 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Margerine Taylor Greene can go fuck herself!

[–] TheRealKuni@midwest.social 15 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Excuse me, you misspelled Margarine Trailer Queen.

[–] Lemminary@lemmy.world 4 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (1 children)

Traitor

FTFY. She's shown more colors than trailer trash.

[–] TheRealKuni@midwest.social 2 points 13 hours ago
[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 7 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Sorry for the kids, but I have simply given up to care about the members of this suicide cult.

[–] GratuitousStealth@lemmy.world 7 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

As a former child (read: captive) of ultra conservative christian fuckwits, I implore you to try to care. It’s not those kids’ fault they have shitty stupid parents.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago

I do care and feel sorry for the kids, but I cannot change their parents.

[–] imvii@lemmy.ca 9 points 17 hours ago

I will always vote and support laws that allow children access to proven medical treatments without the permission from the parents.

[–] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 17 points 23 hours ago

Nurgle cultist. May measles spread and give new life from the dead and rotten.

[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 153 points 1 day ago

“Now, they demonize parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids.”

It's pretty normal to demonize parents who abuse children.

load more comments
view more: next ›