Now that we have a new thread, in order to ensure that this thread continues to meet TL standards and follows the proper guidelines, we will be enforcing the rules in the OP more strictly. Be sure to give them a complete and thorough read before posting!
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Vaccines are a victim of their own success, imagine what would happen if tomorrow some procedure that prevents cancers would become available. Soon enough almost everyone would undergo it because everyone knows someone that struggled with and died of cancer.
What would happen in the next decades is that oncology clinics, specialists, research and machinery for current (then outdated) treatments would slowly drop down to near zero.
Same would go for the cultural relevance of cancer, now a common plotline in entertainment media and common subject of news and just general conversation, would then become rare mention mostly in historical settings.
Soon enough you'd have generations of parents that never knew anyone that had cancer, that barely ever saw it mentioned, and yet the government and healthcare industry tells them they should keep doing a procedure for this archaic disease that no one even saw. Something's amiss, it must all be a big lie so they can control us.
That's the correlation between Trumpism and anti-vaxx, it's not that one is fueled by the other, it's that people unable to analyze longer term multiple-step causes and effects and unable to learn from outside of direct personal experience are the most vulnerable to both.
I know it's been said before, but to get hired by Trump's administration seems to require a cult-like adherence to the party-line. A doctor who is the nominee for a surgeon general cannot give a straightforward much less an evidence-based answer to whether or not flu-vaccines are efficacious but has to dance around the question because she knows what RFK says and a rabid section of MAGA thinks and therefore what Trump wants her to say, but she can't say that either because as a doctor she cannot sign off on what MAGA world wants her to say.
Trump is a black hole that distorts and warps everything around him.
That was so painful to watch. Imagine going through years of grueling medical school just to sell out and voluntarily become an anti-science villain. She'd be a perfect fit for Trump and RFK Jr., but I hope she's never allowed to work as a real doctor because of her compromised medical ethics - she's definitely failing the "Do No Harm" part.
Fucking hell, absolutely ridiculous stuff. I think the most painful part is the non-committal. I know nothing of this person, but just watching that clip it feels she knows the right answer, but is too terrified to give it in case it jeapordises the gig. I assume if she was some anti-vax lunatic she’d just go with that.
I mean I’m basically just repeating what Falling already said so eloquently but it’s completely preposterous. This is how the Trump administration and the wider MAGA phenomenon operate and it’s utterly ridiculous.
Us non-USians, at least in the West (I’m not too familiar with other locales), I mean shit is far from perfect in our wee domains but stuff like this is to me basically inconceivable in the UK, Ireland, the auld Anzacs, vast swathes of Europe.
What the fuck is going on in America? It’s utterly bizarre
A lot and nothing at the same time. Most people have checked out other than to keep "going about their business" (or the terrorists fascists win or something) the best they can. They're assuming this will all somehow sort itself out by sticking to the regular motions.
It's super weird because there's this "waiting for the elections" feel combined with a "Trump is rigging the elections" with a side of "we can't really say that without undermining US democracy entirely" and a garnish of "Trump is doing that anyway".
I'm obviously partial to revolutionary socialism, but I'm also deadly serious about desperately wanting to see people that aren't discuss their alternatives (among themselves if they choose) for all our benefit
To this point, if I was a Democrat supporter, this is the kind of stuff I'd like to see them lean into and make more of ahead of 2028.
As opposed to Newsom's Democrats should be "more culturally normal" rhetoric
On February 27 2026 06:40 Dan HH wrote: Vaccines are a victim of their own success, imagine what would happen if tomorrow some procedure that prevents cancers would become available. Soon enough almost everyone would undergo it because everyone knows someone that struggled with and died of cancer.
What would happen in the next decades is that oncology clinics, specialists, research and machinery for current (then outdated) treatments would slowly drop down to near zero.
Same would go for the cultural relevance of cancer, now a common plotline in entertainment media and common subject of news and just general conversation, would then become rare mention mostly in historical settings.
Soon enough you'd have generations of parents that never knew anyone that had cancer, that barely ever saw it mentioned, and yet the government and healthcare industry tells them they should keep doing a procedure for this archaic disease that no one even saw. Something's amiss, it must all be a big lie so they can control us.
That's the correlation between Trumpism and anti-vaxx, it's not that one is fueled by the other, it's that people unable to analyze longer term multiple-step causes and effects and unable to learn from outside of direct personal experience are the most vulnerable to both.
Exactly. If vaccines had only saved 90% of the people who would otherwise have died of smallpox, everyone would be begging to get a smallpox vaccine, and any other vaccine they can get their hands on, because everyone would have had a friend who died from it when they were a child.
But vaccines are so good that no one dies of smallpox anymore. The disease is eradicated. Measles were nearly there, too.
It is a classic case of the paradox of prevention. Effective prevention stops the thing it prevents, and makes people question why they spend so much on prevention even though the thing the prevention is supposed to stop never works.
Why spend so much money on dams when there is never any flooding? It makes no sense! And if you don't even spend so much money it, there must be some other even more sinister reason they want us to build dams all over the place. Those dams probably form demonic runes to summon the antichrist.
There is huge money in the alternative medicine because you can make any claim without needing any of the expense of figuring out what actually works and it’s not regulated. Once you get people to be so mad you don’t trust mainstream media, gov and science you can sell almost anything and snake oil has massive margins and repeat business. Get them scared of “them” and what “they don’t want you to know” then sell the alternative. There is a huge cross over with MAGA because they pretty much only trust these right wing influencers. And then if the guy is rich, even off selling shit that doesn’t work, that makes them trust and worship the more.
Maybe the people crying about the released Epstein files being 'unverified' can shut the fuck up now, since the representatives they vote for are chasing stupid bullshit instead. (Not counting on it.)
If there's anything coming from these closed-door depositions, it will be from Bill Clinton. It's also doubtful that anything useful will come from them. Bill has hopefully learned not to lie under oath after being impeached for it during his presidency.
Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., called the session “productive” and said Clinton answered “most of our questions,” pointedly noting that she frequently demurred when asked about connections between her husband, Epstein and Maxwell.
“The number of times that she said, ‘I don’t know, you’ll have to ask my husband,’ was, was more than a dozen,” Comer said.
Maybe the people crying about the released Epstein files being 'unverified' can shut the fuck up now, since the representatives they vote for are chasing stupid bullshit instead. (Not counting on it.)
Which is, part of, why they wanted the hearing to be public. So everyone could have seen the buffoonery instead of Republicans being able to just lie and selectively release things in the worst possible light.
On February 27 2026 10:39 Billyboy wrote: To follow up if you ever thought MAGA or MAHA was about anything other than enriching themselves just look at RFK jr. on pesticides.
On February 27 2026 10:39 Billyboy wrote: To follow up if you ever thought MAGA or MAHA was about anything other than enriching themselves just look at RFK jr. on pesticides.
Are you pro-glyphosate or anti-glyphosate, and if pro who do you think should make it?
I mean this is pretty irrelevant given Billy wasn’t really highlighting the pros and cons of either position, but that RFK happily flipped on it when the time came.
On February 27 2026 10:39 Billyboy wrote: To follow up if you ever thought MAGA or MAHA was about anything other than enriching themselves just look at RFK jr. on pesticides.
Are you pro-glyphosate or anti-glyphosate, and if pro who do you think should make it?
I mean this is pretty irrelevant given Billy wasn’t really highlighting the pros and cons of either position, but that RFK happily flipped on it when the time came.
Nailed it. He had a very strong opinion, which he stated as fact and it did a 180 when he could make money either way.
And I’m confident that before 4 days ago you thought it was terrible and now you think it’s amazing! Free thinkers for the win.
My personal opinion is that I don’t know enough to say what should happen. I do know enough to know it’s a very complicated question. I probably lean toward at least a reduction. Lots of the biologicals are showing great performance without the cancer risk.
On February 27 2026 10:39 Billyboy wrote: To follow up if you ever thought MAGA or MAHA was about anything other than enriching themselves just look at RFK jr. on pesticides.
Are you pro-glyphosate or anti-glyphosate, and if pro who do you think should make it?
I mean this is pretty irrelevant given Billy wasn’t really highlighting the pros and cons of either position, but that RFK happily flipped on it when the time came.
Nailed it. He had a very strong opinion, which he stated as fact and it did a 180 when he could make money either way.
And I’m confident that before 4 days ago you thought it was terrible and now you think it’s amazing! Free thinkers for the win.
My personal opinion is that I don’t know enough to say what should happen. I do know enough to know it’s a very complicated question. I probably lean toward at least a reduction. Lots of the biologicals are showing great performance without the cancer risk.
No, no, no, that's the CENTRIST thing to do. If you're strongly pro half the time and strongly anti the other half that puts you exactly in the middle! #centrist
On February 28 2026 00:23 dyhb wrote: If there's anything coming from these closed-door depositions, it will be from Bill Clinton. It's also doubtful that anything useful will come from them. Bill has hopefully learned not to lie under oath after being impeached for it during his presidency.
Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., called the session “productive” and said Clinton answered “most of our questions,” pointedly noting that she frequently demurred when asked about connections between her husband, Epstein and Maxwell.
“The number of times that she said, ‘I don’t know, you’ll have to ask my husband,’ was, was more than a dozen,” Comer said.
Do you think of all the names appearing in the Epstein files, subpoenaing Hillary and Bill was priority one and two?
On February 28 2026 00:23 dyhb wrote: If there's anything coming from these closed-door depositions, it will be from Bill Clinton. It's also doubtful that anything useful will come from them. Bill has hopefully learned not to lie under oath after being impeached for it during his presidency.
Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., called the session “productive” and said Clinton answered “most of our questions,” pointedly noting that she frequently demurred when asked about connections between her husband, Epstein and Maxwell.
“The number of times that she said, ‘I don’t know, you’ll have to ask my husband,’ was, was more than a dozen,” Comer said.
Do you think of all the names appearing in the Epstein files, subpoenaing Hillary and Bill was priority one and two?
In the official files a former president was mentioned keeping the heat off Epstein but whether it‘s Clinton, Bush or Obama, I can only speculate and it‘s not my job anyway.
Even if it were it wouldn‘t matter cause it‘s obviously never going to get prosecuted.
Might as well order a Maga hat and a lobotomy. Just drool and no thoughts sounds mighty fine in this environment. Must be why there‘s so much addiction around.
On February 28 2026 00:23 dyhb wrote: If there's anything coming from these closed-door depositions, it will be from Bill Clinton. It's also doubtful that anything useful will come from them. Bill has hopefully learned not to lie under oath after being impeached for it during his presidency.
Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., called the session “productive” and said Clinton answered “most of our questions,” pointedly noting that she frequently demurred when asked about connections between her husband, Epstein and Maxwell.
“The number of times that she said, ‘I don’t know, you’ll have to ask my husband,’ was, was more than a dozen,” Comer said.
Do you think of all the names appearing in the Epstein files, subpoenaing Hillary and Bill was priority one and two?
For Congress? For House oversight? For James Comer? I have no clue. All of this is closed-door depositions with selective leaks and hearsay. Obviously there’s no report out yet. I couldn’t even tell you offhand who the Democratic ranking member on that committee was, or Comey’s deputy.
Hegseth has now destroyed more Homeland Security equipment than the median antifa protester.
The median isn't very impressive. He's destroyed more Homeland Security equipment than very nearly any antifa protester. I think all the protesters "managed" was a single car in Minnesota. I'm pretty sure that puts Hegseth in the 99th percentile of most dangerous antifa terrorists.
On February 27 2026 00:43 Jankisa wrote: The American anti-science movement is deeply rooted in Christian nationalism.
Ding ding ding. Science became a deity that couldn't be manipulated at whim so it had to be discredited through the defunding of education and victimization of Christian indoctrination.
This is the same administration that touted operation warp speed as a global success and is now demonizing the technology they used to make it happen.
EPT
