Reaching Velocity to Escape Anti-Vax Stupidity -- Rayne @ EmptyWheel
https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/03/30/reaching-velocity-to-escape-anti-vax-stupidity/The Food and Drug Administration’s director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Dr. Peter Marks, resigned yesterday.
In his letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press, Marks said he was “willing to work” to address the concerns expressed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the safety of vaccinations. But he concluded that wasn’t possible.
“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” he wrote.
Of course this was RFK Jr’s work, not a resignation but a firing because Marks — a hematologist oncologist who earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Columbia University, followed by a Doctor of Medicine and PhD in cell and molecular biology from New York University — wasn’t willing to roll over and rubber stamp RFK Jr’s bullshit anti-vax nonsense.
And by nonsense I mean the deadly kind – misinformation and disinformation about vaccines directly leading to the deaths of 83 Samoans from measles after being misled by RFK Jr. about measles vaccinations.
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Once upon a time I prepared this image about the history of childhood mortality for a post about COVID and vaccines:
But RFK Jr. is worried about vaccine safety. *eye roll*
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= new reply since forum marked as read
... I'm a spoiled child of privilege who could not bear living in the shadow of my assassinated father and uncle. I did some really good stuff as an environmental attorney, and as the founder of the Waterkeeper Alliance and Children's Health Defense; I wrote some pretty darn good books, then... shit went sideways, who knows why, and I became a self-pitying junkie. Most bios don't even mention that fact, let alone delve into the reasons for it, but, take it from me, things went downhill from there.
I then blamed my multitude of shortcomings on... lessee... A BRAINWORM! T. Solium is the most common culprit. My bizarre penchant for eating roadkill raw probably accounts for having contracted the parasite. Apparently, the little bugger devoured my ability to differentiate between scientific fact and the wall-to-wall, knee-deep bullshit that is the basis for all the anti-vax drivel that I've spewed for years now.
HEY! Don't blame me for all those preventable deaths in Samoa! It was all the worm's fault!
Now I'm helping the worst president in American history destroy the country that made us both rich. Go figure.
For the terminally obtuse 
