The Sanders movement is bigger than Bernie. Now it must defeat Trump
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/26/sanders-movement-bernie-hillary-donald-trumpThe relatively obscure septuagenarian self-described socialist senator from Vermont was expected to attract derisory support: he ended up running the USs most formidable political machine uncomfortably close. Who could have imagined that, in 2016, a socialist candidate in the United States would have 46% of mandated delegates at a Democratic national convention?
His movement not only forced issues on the agenda, most notably the injustice of a country with such potential being so monstrously rigged in favour of a tiny elite, but it has dragged the Democrats policy platform to the left: from the minimum wage to the war on drugs. As his policy director Warren Gunnels has put it: I think if you read the platform right now, you will understand that the political revolution is alive and kicking. It is worth looking to the political right for precedent. The rightwing Republican Barry Goldwater suffered a landslide defeat in the 1964 presidential election, but much of his politics would go on to dominate the party. We who voted for him in 1964 believe he won, wrote the American journalist George Will. It just took 16 years to count the votes.
Undoubtedly, the vast majority of Sanders supporters will vote for Hillary Clinton, despite a media focus on those pledging to do otherwise. Yes, his most zealous supporters refuse to distinguish between Clinton and Donald Trump. There is nothing radical about failing to take a stand on a far-right racist demagogue sweeping to power in what remains the worlds most powerful nation. The election of Trump would represent one of the greatest calamities to befall the west since the end of the second world war. The task ahead is to ensure Trumps defeat as decisively as possible and Democratic control of both Houses of Congress, and then to build pressure from below to enact progressive legislation.
LostinRed
(840 posts)They'll vote for Dr. Jill stein and if trump wins, they'll never admit it.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)Will serve as an impetus for some twitchy parents to neglect to have their damn kids vaccinated.
She's still going use that to glean support from the entitled white left. Damned granola munchers.
The lives of children are all about politics to this Stein woman. I'm glad that the rank and file Democratic electorate wants nothing to do with her.
stumblnrose
(449 posts)Vaccines are safe. From someone other than FDA or pharma?
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)Justin Rosario
After weeks of waffling on the issue, Jill Stein finally just came out and admitted she buys into the anti-vaxxer nonsense that runs rampant through affluent and spoiled white neighborhoods. This should come as absolutely no surprise as Stein has long pandered to the same group of people that vote their conscience because theyll never pay the price for putting someone like Donald Trump into the White House.
But thank goodness Stein finally stopped evading the issue and let the country know that proven, peer-reviewed science is unimportant in the face of how her followers feel and the evils of corporations:
Lets be clear: Stein is full of shit. She knows quite well that vaccines have been tested, retested and tested some more by dozens of different groups that have nothing to do with the pharmaceutical industry. All have found exactly nothing wrong with them and, aside from the incredibly rare adverse reaction, there are simply no ill effects on people being vaccinated.
http://leftwingnation.org/jill-stein-finally-admits-shes-an-anti-science-anti-vaxxer-piece-of-shit/
yurbud
(39,405 posts)and the same goes for a lot of our other agencies.
The career civil servants want to do a good job, but their hands are often tied by corrupt appointees or legislation that makes it easy to dodge oversight.
That was what got me about the Volkswagen diesel emissions scam. Not that they did it, but that the EPA was letting the computer in the car tell them how much the car was polluting.
That's like the cops going to Jeffrey Dahmer's door, asking him if any of dates who disappeared were in there, and when he said no, taking his word for it and going away.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)Elect liberal Democrats to Congress... Make sure that their campaigns are fully publicly funded, instead of funded by corporations. Vote to replace them with Democrats if they don't do their damn jobs.
Otherwise, nothing will change.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)LostinRed
(840 posts)Are they 100% safe? Nothing is. However, not getting vaccinated is just plain stupid. Any parent that doesn't vaccinate their kid is a terrible, terrible selfish person.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,414 posts)Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective health interventions available, saving millions of people from illness, disability and death each year. Effective and safe vaccines, which protect against more than 20 serious diseases, are available and many promising new vaccines are being developed.
In the 21st century, every child has the right to live free from vaccine-preventable diseases, but these diseases still pose significant threats in the WHO European Region. Consequently, strengthening immunization remains vital.
WHO/Europe's work in the area of vaccines and immunization is guided by the European Vaccine Action Plan, an ambitious roadmap to ensure equitable and optimal protection of Europe's population from vaccie-preventable diseases. WHO/Europe works with Member States and partners to achieve the Plan's major goals, including:
strengthening and achieving financial sustainability of national immunization programmes
eliminating measles and rubella
maintaining the poliomyelitis-free status of the European Region.
http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/disease-prevention/vaccines-and-immunization/vaccines-and-immunization
WHO
Very few public-health interventions have been as successful as immunizations in providing substantial and highly cost-effective improvements to human health, particularly to that of children. Hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine are used every year; and both their safety and efficacy determine the success of national programmes to control vaccine-preventable diseases.
Vaccines are safe
Vaccines are vigorously tested and proven safe before being licensed and introduced into national immunization programmes. Normal side effects are minor; however in rare cases individuals can have a mild or serious reaction to a vaccine. Most events thought to be related to the administration of a vaccine are actually not due to the vaccine itself. Many are simply coincidental events, while others (particularly in developing countries) are due to human or programme error.
However, as incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases continues to decline, some people have become increasingly concerned about the risks associated with the vaccines, and less fearful of the diseases they are designed to prevent. Failure to deal rapidly and effectively with allegations of vaccine-related adverse events can undermine confidence in a vaccine and ultimately reduce immunization coverage and increase disease incidence.
Quick response in the event of abnormalities
The surveillance of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) is a critical monitoring function of national regulatory authorities (NRA) and immunization programmes. Surveillance allows programmes to detect abnormalities in the vaccine or programme errors. This is of utmost importance, especially during vaccination campaigns such as measles-rubella supplementary immunization activities, when a large number of doses are administered in a short time.
http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/disease-prevention/vaccines-and-immunization/vaccines-and-immunization/vaccine-quality,-efficacy-and-safety
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