Death to the Memes!

I’m coming to hate Perry Bots, just because they are so freaking wed to spreading memes– dumb ones, at that!  It’s not to Ronulan levels of annoying, yet, but cut it out!  You’re not doing him any good.

Same way that not all Ron Paul supporters are the annoying, brainless sort of Ron Paul supporter, not all Rick Perry supporters are these annoying cut-and-paste artists who haven’t got enough imagination to even rephrase the freaking arguments.  I’d estimate that they’re less than one in ten, actually– the Ron Paul supporter thing is highly biased by the way that folks who agree with ‘im on some points don’t want to be associated with the nutjobs.  If this can’t be stopped, Perry is going to face similar problems.  Heck, for all I know, that’s part of someone’s plan.  Heaven knows that dumber plans have been implemented, and probably even been successful. 

Focusing on the mandated vaccination for an STD for school girls, I’ll list off a few, with responses:
“It had an opt-out, it’s not really a mandate.”
That opt-out is exactly the same as for every other mandatory vaccine in Texas. You ask the gov’t to send you the form, fill it out, get it notarized and then you get permission to not be vaccinated with whatever for two years. (In theory, at least.)

“It’s horrible that Bachmann is giving support to the anti-vaccine movement!”
Possibly the locations I’m most familiar with– Seattle, Portland and SoCal– messes with the sampling I have in this, but none of the folks I know who are “anti-vaccine” are feeling validated by anything a Republican would say, because THEY ARE LIBERALS. The same sort of folks who think “organic” means “healthier” and “more nutritious.”

“It’s OK, Perry was just making it so the insurance companies would pay for the vaccine.”
Oh, that’s a lovely defense of someone going for the Republican nomination: his goal wasn’t to abuse his power and interfere with parental rights by mandating a new STD drug on little girls from a company that gave him money and hired his friend– he was just trying to force a private company to pay for something he personally thought was a good idea.

“Perry said he messed up/is sorry/wouldn’t do it that way again/etc.”
Where?  Please, seriously, I’ve asked for folks to give a link to exactly what he actually said, and nobody will do it– there is a WORLD of difference between him saying “that looked really bad,” “I shouldn’t have used an executive order,” “I should have gone with an opt-in instead of an opt-out” or “I would not do something like that again.”  Or even, “yeah, I was an utter idiot with my rhetoric on that…sorry.”  (The “pro-life” justification, the various polio claims, etc.)

“Watch this video with an interview of people who know someone who died of cervical cancer!”
Wow!  Women dying is a bad thing– I had no idea!  I am now utterly on the side of government ordered everything that someone claims could save a few in a hundred thousand lives, if someone can find an emotional argument for it, and to heck with any consideration for personal rights!

“You just hate science/are ignorant/are anti-medicine!”
No, you ad hominem slinging idiot; there’s no shortage of medical professionals who also did not think it was a great idea.  Even the “preventing cancer” thing isn’t open-shut, even with those who go from “associated with” into “causes.” While you’re at it, could you please educate yourself on HPV, and stop spreading flat misinformation?  At least figure out a bit about the various types, and pay attention to the stats that folks throw around…. While I’m dreaming about people paying attention to the facts, stop citing Wikipedia.  It’s a handy jump-off point, but it’s worthless on anything where there’s debate precisely because it’s a wiki.

[Categories and Tags added — JH]

“Hunger Triggers Anger”

So I’m on the NewsMax mailing list and I get this email from NewsMax Health with the header being, among other things, “Hunger triggers anger.” And I think to myself “well, duh.” Ya see, there is this little family history where certain members of the family get “the shakes” on occasion and need food NOW! My mother has it. I have it. My daughter has it.

Now, when we say we need food NOW, that is not an invitation to discuss dinner plans or options on what to cook and eat in 45 minutes. That’s a requirement to get something into our gullets immediately if not sooner. And if you take it as an opportunity to discuss dinner or to ask about a person in our charge while we need food NOW, you will definitely get your head chewed off and then we’ll find something to eat and instantly be fine again.

You might get an apology from us after the fact. You might not. Since you were the one that caused the explosion. But when “the shakes” come, and it is a quite rare event (it’s happened to me 6 times or so in the last 10 years) that demands very immediate attention. And our nerves are extraordinarily on edge to the point of explosion with the wrong input.

Does hunger trigger anger? I say it depends on the form of the hunger, but it most definitely can. And you don’t want to get my Irish up or I could go native and add another scalp to my collection.