We are happy to inform you that NTS is now part of the Secular Policy Institute (SPI) coalition. Our name appears in the list of organizations in the Texas section at this SPI’s page.
NTS board of directors discussed the request from SPI to join the coalition. The board voted to join the coalition.
Being a member of the SPI coalition was seen as a positive for NTS since SPI promotes science globally.
This was a topic for discussion at the January meeting on Saturday. I had previously posted the following on the Skeptical Analysis blog, and I’m re-posting it here for NTS members.
– John Blanton
Thursday I caught a bit of Erin Burnett Outfront on CNN. She had an interview with Doctors Armand Dorian and Jack Wolfson. The conversation turned into a shouting match about the measles vaccine, or lack thereof.
Owing to a number of people declining to be vaccinated for measles there’s been a recent outbreak of measles, particularly in areas rich with anti-vaccine sentiment. See the map.
California is rife with vaccine craziness, which, unlike a lot of lame brain thinking, seems to cross liberal-conservative boundaries. Wolfson, out of Phoenix, Arizona, seems to be one of those who refuse to recognize the heavier benefit of vaccination. His attitude, at least in this sector, seems to be for letting nature run its course.
Jack Wolfson, M.D.
Dorian was aboard to counter a lot of Wolfson’s nonsense, but his wisdom generally got lost in the back and forth. I’m just going to highlight Wolfson’s comments, because stupid stuff is what this blog is all about. I transcribed the following from the video. There are likely mistakes in the transcription, but the gist is captured accurately. First, Burnett asks a question. Then, Wolfson responds. Burnett’s comments are in bold.
Why are you opposed to the vaccine?
What I’m opposed to is the fact that we’re injecting chemicals into our children. This aluminum, mercury, sometimes aborted fetal proteins. There’s antibiotics in there. We’re doing something that is totally foreign, that is totally unnatural to our children. We’re experimenting on our children. Our children have the right to get infections. We have immune systems for that purpose.
As the doctor previously said, there were millions of cases, and rarely did anybody die from this. These are typically benign childhood conditions. We cannot sterilize the body. We cannot sterilize our society. We need to be affected by these viruses, bacteria.
He states that he is a board-certified cardiologist.
Whether it’s chicken pox, it’s measles, it’s mumps, rubella. Listen, there’s 70 people who have it right now. 80, whatever the number is. They’re not dying. These are benign childhood conditions that, once the child gets it, they will be immune forever.
You are artificially injecting chemicals to try and stimulate the immune system. That’s not the same thing. We all had chicken pox as children, and we’re all fine because of this. It is our right, and we’re not going to inject chemicals…
[Burnett mentions pneumonia, lifelong brain damage, deafness and death.]
Bad things can happen to anybody. We can be in a car accident. We can be in a toaster fire…
My view: Breath-taking inanity.
So, I’m thinking, “What do we need a doctor for?” You got a bad heart? Maybe it’s nature’s telling you that it’s time to die.
There’s obviously more to be said on this. Here’s something from the Washington Post:
It’s 6:30 p.m. in eastern Arizona, and an energetic doctor who has gained notice due to his disdain for vaccinations has just gotten home. It’s been a busy day. He’s already spoken to USA Today. He just did a segment on CNN. And he’s closely monitored his Facebook page, which has collected 4,000 “likes” in the span of 48 hours. But Jack Wolfson always has time to discuss vaccinations — his hatred of them and his abhorrence of the parents who defend them.
“Don’t be mad at me for speaking the truth about vaccines,” Wolfson said in a telephone interview with The Washington Post. “Be mad at yourself, because you’re, frankly, a bad mother. You didn’t ask once about those vaccines. You didn’t ask about the chemicals in them. You didn’t ask about all the harmful things in those vaccines…. People need to learn the facts.”
Not inclined to being mean-spirited, it is not my wish that Doctor Wolfson ever comes down with the measles.
The NTS held its annual meeting 31 January 2015 to elect board members and to appoint officers for 2015. This year we tried an experiment, conducting the meeting partly by Skype conference video. It would appear everybody but me attended at the CCC. I joined in from San Antonio, and I made a short video.
Here are the new North Texas Skeptics directors:
The board elected the following officers and other positions:
A full list of directors, officers, emeritus, advisers is on the About page.
Here’s a short video clip from the Skype session. My video skills can use some maturity, but we will be doing this again soon, and hopefully we will get more video participation and also better video technique. Here’s the link: