Friday, March 25, 2016

The Trouble at Tribeca

The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002. Those who found a film festival generally have input into the films that are chosen to be screened - and Robert DeNiro, along with Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff founded the TFF. But he is now catching some flack for screening the documentary Vaxxed: From Cover-up to Catastrophe. This is apparently the first time he has invoked the privilege asking to have a film be screened AT A FILM FESTIVAL HE HELPED FOUND. 

One would think film festivals celebrate nothing but the most milque-toast of subjects, and deviating into any kind of controversy was odd or out of the ordinary. So here's a short list of subjects also being addressed in the films being screened at the 2016 TFF:  

    Abortion
    Virginity 
    Refugees 
    
And that's just on the first page! I'll guess that the abortion film has a pro-abort worldview because if it didn't the pro-aborts would be losing their ever lovin' minds (that was deep sarcasm right there) that TFF would dare to show such a thing ... but that is yet another connection or similarity between vaccines and abortion - I have explored other links in previous posts on this blog.

How threatening could the content of this documentary be that Mr. DeNiro's motives would be questioned? 

Here is his statement of why he wanted to include this film:
“Grace and I have a child with autism and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined. In the 15 years since the Tribeca Film Festival was founded, I have never asked for a film to be screened or gotten involved in the programming. However this is very personal to me and my family and I want there to be a discussion, which is why we will be screening VAXXED. I am not personally endorsing the film, nor am I anti-vaccination; I am only providing the opportunity for a conversation around the issue.” 
 There are two pertinent thoughts that he reveals in what he said - 
     1) he is not "anti-vax"
     2) he thinks it is important to discuss the issue ... and apparently is not afraid to have 
         a multi-dimensional discussion where it is okay to say something more than the ever            so nuanced and officially approved talking point "vaccines are safe and effective". 

Wow. 

He did not even insinuate there is a link between vaccines and anything bad (like autism, let alone anything else). He is, by deductive reasoning, pro-vaccination. He clarifies that screening the film is not the same as endorsing it or its content. He wants to encourage open discussion - what could be more outrageous than that! 

From his statement it does seem he would be in favor of more research to determine variables that influence risk of developing autism - like research that isn't tainted by conflict of interest, fraud, deceit, faux placebos (a contradiction in terms to say the least) and poor design, among other issues. Perhaps he might even support research that might lead to some answers - like a study comparing vaccinated with unvaccinated - something that has never.been.done. 

Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe will be screened Sunday April 24 at 2:00pm at the SVA Theater in NYC. I hope it is well attended. I am not much of a movie goer myself - but 
if I lived in the NYC area I would probably make an exception for this. 

Here's the trailer: 





Update (Mar 26, 2016 @ 7pm) - apparently the TFF has caved and will no longer screen 
the film. Pitiful. It would have been a terrific platform for a "discussion" - those who hold 
to vaccine orthodoxy seem to be afraid to talk about the what just may undermine that orthodoxy. 






Monday, March 07, 2016

Abortion and vaccines - Part 5

As has been discussed with previous posts discussing the link between vaccines and abortion, there is significant irony in that both procedures are frequently done as a result of coercion and/or manipulation. 

Many women report being pressured into getting abortions they do not want. This is also true for health care providers and vaccines - specifically a yearly flu vaccine

Receipt of flu vaccine by healthcare providers is increasing.  But this is likely only because they are forced to get it in order to keep their jobs. Increasingly healthcare providers are not free to decline a yearly flu vaccine - they do not have a choice. 

But here is an interesting irony - pediatricians are free to "fire" a patient from their practice for refusing to comply with vaccination (either in whole or in part), yet healthcare providers who work in obstetrics can be censored, or fired for not complying with a pro-abortion worldview. In other words, pediatricians are free to impose their views of vaccination upon patients - practicing according to their conscience. Yet OB/GYN providers (as well as other types of healthcare providers like pharmacists among others) can be pressured to comply with a pro-abortion agenda - to participate in or to refer - or they could lose their jobs. 

Declining to refer for abortion or declining to participate in/perform abortion is not a denial of an essential service as abortion is always an elective procedure. And with >1 million abortions/year (in the United States of America alone) it is hard to argue that women have a hard time accessing baby killing services ... not to mention the damage this does to women themselves. Besides - providers of a variety of services have boundaries or limits of what they will or will not do. For example, many restaurants have signs "No shirt, no shoes, no service" - and as previously noted, pediatricians may refuse service/care for children whose parents decline some or all vaccines. 

Pro-life providers do not stop women from getting abortions, nor do they stop those who are pro-abortion from practicing or providing this life-ending procedure. Similarly, those who advocate for freedom in personal medical decision-making regarding vaccination do not stop those who want vaccines from getting them, or from providing them as healthcare providers ... so who is truly pro-choice, pro-freedom? Much like those who advocate for vaccines, those who are pro-abortion may advocate forcing OB/GYN providers into violating their conscience - either through soft or hard measures. Medical students may be carefully screened during OB/GYN residency interviews to ensure those who are placed are willing to learn how to do abortions.  

For the moment healthcare providers are free not to offer vaccines - though with the use of electronic medical records (EHR's) as well as ICD-10 and claims data practice patterns (including vaccination rates) will no doubt be monitored and "incentives" to change behavior instituted (ie: payments "adjusted" up or down to "encourage" the desired outcome of compliance with the vaccination paradigm - or else). 

We are designed to live in freedom - being given a faux choice is no choice. Being injected with a vaccine in order to continue working is not a choice - it is coercion. So long as there are laws or regulations forcing vaccination for any reason even those who are pro-vaccination cannot claim they are freely choosing to receive a vaccination.