#grumpity grump time

[captaingrumpyteen-blog]

social media & the spread of medical misinformation. my issue.

I’d just like to preface this by saying that I do understand the concern that parents face when seeing information that vaccines could be harmful to their child. It’s concerning to anyone, to think that something that has always been thought to be benign is ‘revealed’ to be dangerous, and possibly causing more harm than good. I understand that. The panic is understandable. But, inadvertently, these parents, these concerned mothers, are causing more harm than good. This blog will be debunking and detailing some of the most popular myths surrounding vaccines and the harm coming to the most vulnerable.

Myth 1: Vaccines cause autism.

This is by far the most common myth, and although it’s been debunked many times, I’ll be adding this to the list just for good measure. Andrew Wakefield, a researcher back in the 90’s published a paper suggesting that autism and the MMR vaccine were correlated, because the MMR vaccine caused inflammation of the gut, and the inflammation would travel through the bloodstream and affect the brain. His study has been criticised by many for it’s bad design, as he only had 12 subjects, 8 of whom were already diagnosed with autism, the other 4 with developmental difficulties. Inflammation was only observed after the children had already been observed, and there was no control group without autism/developmental difficulties to compare them to.

Well then why has the rate of autism in children spiked since the introduction of vaccines? A theory is that the rate of autism has not spiked, but the rate that doctors could detect and diagnose autism, especially on the milder end of the spectrum has increased. Another theory is that because autism is diagnosed at around 18 months of age, a couple of months after vaccinations, and the proximity of these two things could lead parents to believe that the vaccines caused their child’s autism. Myth 2: Vaccines can actually infect you with the disease you are vaccinating against.

When antigens enter the body, your cells make antibodies specifically for these antigens to kill it off. Vaccines are these antigens but dead or weakened, so that your body can create these antibodies without having to face the actual symptoms of the disease. The body is then equipped with those antibodies so that if the body becomes infected with the real antigen, it already has the antibody to defend itself. So, no, your body will not succumb to these diseases.

Myth 3: Vaccines have unsafe levels of mercury/formaldehyde/other chemical.

They do not. You ingest more mercury on a daily basis than present in vaccines, and formaldehyde is a chemical that your body produces in higher amounts than present in the vaccine.

When Facebook Moms, as I like to call them, band together in support of something, misinformation spreads like wildfire. Because social media gives you the option to spread misinformation so quickly to so many people, the rate that these beliefs spread is extremely fast. And the effects are disastrous.

In America, the vaccination rate has been high enough that people experience the effects of something called ‘herd immunity.’ Herd immunity is the concept that when vaccination rates, and therefore immunisation rates are high enough, the people who are medically exempt from vaccinations, newborns, extremely young children, and people who can’t get vaccinated for other medical reasons, will be much less likely to come in contact with the disease. In cases of especially contagious diseases, this is extremely important. These diseases spread literally like the flu, and the reason your child needs to get vaccinated is to protect the most vulnerable, the people who cannot get vaccinated.

More recently though, the vaccination has gone down, especially in certain religious groups and smaller, more close knit groups. Within these groups, there’s a high social pressure to conform, and a higher level of trust within the members. So, if an authority in these groups chooses not to vaccinate their child, others will likely follow suit. This was the case in a Rockland County town, where religious leaders and their followers gathered to rally against the vaccine movement. Among the religions were The Church of Scientology, (I really wish I were joking) and Ultra Orthodox Jews. Because faith leaders are so trusted, and their followers follow them for faith, would it not make sense for them to stay faithful that their leaders want to protect them? And I don’t even doubt that, I don’t think that these religious groups are gathering, planning and orchestrating the subsequent measles outbreak that occurred, most likely a result of herd immunity being nonexistent within these groups because the percentages of non-vaccinated people was too high. It also didn’t help that they gathered in ballroom to protest this, and hundreds of unvaccinated people in a relatively small, enclosed space, is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Other than the misinformation about vaccines, other ‘natural remedies’ are suggested as alternate solutions. Occasionally essential oils are suggested as remedies to illnesses and ailments instead of taking their child to the doctor. I want to say that that the anti vax movement has really spread because of this mistrust of Big Pharma and doctors and the government. And although anti vax movement is not responsible for the mistrust, it has a lot of other symptoms. People are tending towards organic, non-GMO, otherwise ‘natural’ ingredients in their food, and natural things in their body. This bias towards ‘healthy, natural living’ is ironically putting more people at risk than not, with effects other than the recent spike in measles cases in the US.

(If you really want to see something grotesque, you can just look up black salve, which I feel like is a side effect of being able to order pretty much anything off the internet, and also the spread of misinformation surrounding medicine and cancer treatments.)

[megabadbunny]

idk why past me thought it was a good idea to take excedrin migraine within 6 hours of bedtime but if i could i would go back in time and strangle her :D

[mythtakenforastory]

((Does anyone else miss that glorious span of time when your commonest tags auto-populated? I miss that. I miss that a lot. >:[ ))

[arsenicpanda]

Riverdale for the ask meme!

Ok, the Top Five Favorite Characters meme, coming right up!  You know, this is getting increasingly hard to answer because I’m bad at ranking things, although the top two remain consistent.  Still, let’s jam!

5. Gladys Jones: I love Gladys.  I never thought I would at first because she makes such a bad impression in season 1 and then the complete absence of her when Jughead almost dies left a bad taste in my mouth.  I thought it would be impossible for Riverdale to make me like her, but damn is she charming.  And the second she was like, “Ok, Penny, you cut out my kid’s eye, which means it’s Vengeance O’Clock, get ready,” in a way that was such a great parallel to Jughead’s scene with Penny in 2x09, she just completely won me over.  Of the shady parents, she is definitely my favorite as someone who is clearly Trying at this parenting thing but also failing miserably on like every level.  Also, Jughead is so, so clearly his mother’s son, and I just love their similarities in mentalities and the way they go about things.  And she’s also such a delight to watch, just played absolutely perfectly.  The way she’s such a bad mother but also clearly loves her kids and will fight tooth and nail for them is just so goddamn interesting, she absolutely fascinates me.  Please bring her back in season 5, I want more Gladys.

4. Toni Topaz: Ok, so this is kind of cheating because I’m more talking about Toni as we knew her in season 2 and a little 3a, y’know before she became just a side character to Cheryl, and just as a concept.  Which isn’t fair in terms of ranking, but damn if Toni isn’t interesting in concept.  Her clear and easy bond with Jughead is so interesting because neither of them seem like the type to make friends easily, and yet they were both like, “Ah, someone like me.”  Toni is great as a character who doesn’t take shit from anyone, even her friends (excepting Cheryl, which does and does not work for me depending on the scene), and watching her with Jughead, a character who is also done with everyone’s shit (excepting Betty) but also so full of it himself and indulged by most of his friends (I say that with love), is so fun.  Like, I really wanted to see more of that and more of her friendship with Sweet Pea and Fangs, just more found family, please.  And she wanted to do well in school and get out of Riverdale and I would like more of that!  And also I would love to watch her get to know Betty, just watch this person who clearly hates people wearing masks of any kind get to know this person who is so used to using her masks would be so interesting.  And her brief friendship with Veronica!  I would like to know about that as well.  Vanessa Morgan also just brings a great attitude to Toni that is so entertaining to watch.  So yes, I love Toni, she entertains me greatly when she’s actually allowed to, and I would like more of watching her interact with prominent characters other than Cheryl again.

3. Donna Sweett: My vengeance quest queen, how I love her.  Donna is so conniving and clever and cutthroat, and she’s just amazing.  She has a Mission and a Plan, and it is a very long, very complicated plan (one might even say overly complicated), and I loved watching it.  God, watching her interact with Bret was the best, the way she just shut his shit down and commanded absolutely everything was a delight.  And her position as Betty’s nemesis was the greatest, like what any amazing foe for Betty, just two women on clear missions and elaborate vengeance quests.  And she got away!  I’m so glad she got away, even if she didn’t get everything she wanted.  Please bring her back with another elaborate scheme or as an unexpected and untrustworthy ally, I miss her.

2. Betty Cooper: Best girl, hands down.  Betty is the kind of ruthless, intense lady with a heart of gold and a sweet smile that I’ve been waiting for.  She seems so nice--and is nice, although not as much as she is polite--but has such great hidden depths.  I love watching her journey from someone who is trying so hard to fit into a box to someone who is like, “Yeah, this is who I am,” excepting her worries about her Darkness, although I really want to see her accept that part of herself.  I mean, she accepts that she’s ruthless in her methods socially, but she gets skittish when she gets tempted toward violence, and I find that such an interesting, fine line.  I suppose it’s more a matter of control though; when she gets angry in a fiery, violent way, she gets out of hand, as opposed to her cold fury, which she has complete control over.  Betty has serious anger issues, especially in the beginning when she seems unable to accept that she can get angry, and I love watching her learn to embrace her anger in a way she can control.  Is she still the sweetest to the people she cares about?  Absolutely yes.  Would she completely ruin the lives of anyone who went after those people, especially Jughead?  Also absolutely yes.  Which is so interesting to see in a female character who isn’t also a villain.  Like, she is effectively our real protagonist, occasionally sharing that title with Jughead (I know the show seems to want the protagonist to be Archie, but like...the main plot always goes to Betty, Jughead, or both, and when Betty’s plot is more to the side, it’s given a lot of weight).  Betty is interesting and different, and oh, how I love interesting and different.  I’m so glad she gets as much screentime as she does, although I wish that came with less suffering.

1. Jughead Jones: Best boy, no questions asked.  I love this loner weirdo outsider who just desperately, desperately wants a family, and watching him accept that part of himself has been very interesting for me.  Jughead cares about things very deeply, although he’s also picky about what those things are, and I just love watching him care, whether it’s about people, his community, or Truth in the broader sense.  And once he sets his eyes on something, he, like Betty, is like a dog with a bone, just completely relentless, and I find that so endearing.  Just look at him try to save the Southside and Riverdale!  Watch him try and help Betty find her sister!  See him try to succeed at Stonewall and reclaim his family legacy!  Observe as he tries to solve this great mystery of the Gargoyle King and G&G and all those Shenanigans!  He’s great, I love him.  Jughead is a delight because he has an outer layer of grumpity grump, and then an inner layer of sweetheart, with an undercurrent of crazy person.  I don’t know if I would call Jughead a good person, but he certainly is a caring person.  Also, he’s just absolutely insufferable in the best way, I love him.  I’m so glad that he, like Betty, gets so much focus, although I’m not psyched about the complete downturn in fortune that’s coming with season 5.  Like, he started the show with absolutely nothing--homeless, on the outs with his best friend, his dad drunk, his mom and sister gone, just alone--and now he has come so far--he has a home he shares with the love of his life, he has multiple friends, his sister is home, his dad seems to be on the wagon (I think?  It’s unclear, I think they often forget FP is an alcoholic), he knows his mom loves him even if she has to be on the run or something, and he even has a future outside of Riverdale.  And he’s about to lose a chunk of that and also seem to be in a pretty sorry state, and like...that is a bummer, my friends.  I just want good things for him, y’know?  Still, I assume he’ll start to rebuild his life, but like...it’s gonna be rough to watch him start from the bottom again.  But yeah, I love him and his complexity and also his relationship with Betty and his family and the Serpents and just--I just love him, he’s my third all-time favorite character.

[canadachronicles]

Think about all the girls I haven’t kissed Think of all the fellas that I also haven’t kissed No really, it’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date Oh God, I’m lonely!

Natasha may be a self-described “grumpity grump grump” when it comes to the Holiday Season, but she sure makes a Christmas song sound amazing -even when she ironically sings it, eh?- so she does figure prominently in my Holiday Playlist!