Anti-vaxxers are selfish and ignorant.

I recently saw an anti-vaccination meme on Facebook that declared polio and smallpox weren't defeated by vaccinations, but by 'improved nutrition and hygiene.'

Speechless.

Seriously.

The sheer depth, breadth, and span of the ignorance it would take to believe this is bigger than the solar system. Probably even bigger than the local galactic cluster.

Science education in this country has been gutted of all content, usefulness, and accuracy. We have given in to assorted anti-intellectual groups to the point where there is no longer valid science education in American schools. Instead of the facts as science currently knows them, we have removed anything that might offend the "Christian" extremists. We have also, thanks to that 'no child left behind' garbage, dumbed all education down to the lowest common denominator.

In short, we are on the exact same path that lead the Middle East from being the forerunner of science and medicine into the mess it is today.

Only someone who has never been taught the scientific method of turning a hypothesis into a theory could possibly believe in creationism. Intelligent design also is a belief, not a theory. A scientific theory must be tested, and/or evidence - actual physical evidence - must be found that supports it.

Only someone who knows nothing of history could possibly believe that vaccinations are more harmful than the diseases they prevent. Where today are the tuberculosis sanitariums, where thousands upon thousands went to die? Where are the iron lung wards? They vanished after the vaccinations came out. We wiped smallpox off the earth, a disease that claimed millions of lives before we had a vaccine. We had nearly wiped out measles in this country - a highly contagious disease that can result in blindness, and/or deafness, or death. I myself nearly died from measles before we had that vaccine, but fortunately was left with my eyesight and my hearing.

Besides being incomparably ignorant, the anti-vaxxers are also completely devoid of the idea of civic duty. They have the currently prevalent philosophy of 'me and mine first, screw the rest of you.' They turn their little disease factories they call their children loose in the world, infecting babies who are too young for the vaccine and the people who for medical reasons (immune deficiencies or allergies) can't be vaccinated. They are using their children as biological weapons, killing and maiming innocent people. And they don't care.

Anti-vaxxers are selfish, ignorant people who have lost sight of the fact that they are not alone in the world, that what they choose can kill others. When I was a kid, parents had to provide proof of vaccinations before their children could be enrolled in school, unless they had a valid reason (Christian Scientist or medical) and had written proof. We need to bring that back. The anti-vaxxers should have to homeschool their little germ factories.

Thoughts on the situation in Ferguson

While I support the police, this support is not unconditional. They are human. They have prejudices and hatreds and bad days just like the rest of us.

I don't know all the facts in the Ferguson situation. I do know that both the prosecuting and defense attorneys had major conflicts of interest and should have been excused. The defense's tactic of trashing the deceased's character was inexcusable. The dead can't defend themselves. Provable facts are what courts should rely on, not hearsay, might-haves, and supposition.

I believe lapel cameras that can't be turned off would be an excellent idea for all police. This would both protect the police from false accusations and protect the public from police who abuse their power.

In the case of Ferguson, I believe the actions taken by the officer in question were wrong. That boy didn't deserve to die for what the officer thought he might do. He didn't deserve to die for anything he actually did.

The riots and looting are a separate issue. I firmly support our right in this country to peaceful protest and civil disobedience. I do NOT support rioting and/or looting. From the statements coming from the actual residents of Ferguson, it appears a lot of the looting was committed by outsiders as the residents huddled in their homes. There's no way to prove it one way or the other, of course.

While race, sadly, always has a part - racial bias is still strong in this country - the biggest factor in riots like this is simply poverty. As long as the Powers That Be keep the minimum wage too low to live on, as long as they keep shipping more and more blue-collar jobs overseas, as long as they keep raising the price on a decent education, situations like this are going to become more frequent. Ignorance and poverty are soul-killers. When people see no way out, when they see the rich grabbing up more and more while they have less and less, when the rich sneer and tell people that they're poor because they're lazy and demonize them, they have nothing to lose. When the laws of the land are obviously stacked against them, they have no reason to obey them.

May the laws of karma punish the guilty and ease the pain of the victims. And may we one day see each other as fellow humans, who come in a variety of shades of brown.