Yes I Hemphill, thanks, the I illustrates I point well. Before I get to the topic discussed in the link the I posted, I wanted to refer to what I was Reasoning about the motivation for these people like Alex Jones, which is fame and profit (and for many, also control).
Alex Jones, who owns the website the I linked, has a net worth of 8 million dollars. He makes his money through his radio shows, advertisements on his website and on his youtube videos, the products he sells on the website the I linked to, the books and movies he makes, the talks he gives, etc. etc. He is a very successful business man, all because people choose to blindly believe everything he says and follow him and buy what he sells.
The writer of the article is Jonathan Benson, who is a staff writer for naturalnews.com where the article was originally published. That website is owned by Mike Adams. He makes his money through his radio shows, advertisements on his various websites and videos on his websites and on youtube, the products he sells on his website, the books he makes, the talks he gives, etc. etc.
Now the article. It is even worse than the poorly done study I mentioned. There was no study or research done at all, it is just saying, between 2000 and 2008, the rate of autism diagnosis increased, and they claim that increases in vaccines coincides directly, but the increase in vaccines occured between 1983 and 2008, which is almost double the time window. And it is also misleading in the fact that it makes it sound like people were vaccinated for only 10 viruses in 1983 and 29 viruses in 2008, but they were vaccinated for 8 viruses in 1983, 10 (plus Hepatitis A for higher risk groups) viruses in 2000 and 14 (plus Meningococcal for higher risk groups) in 2008. The number 29 comes from repeated doses of certain vaccines, which had already risen to 18 in 1994, and 20 in 1997.
Here is what was added between 2000-2008
2001 - Pneumococcal
2002 - Influenza (higher risk groups, became standard in 2005)
2006 - Meningococcal (higher risk groups)
2007 - Rotavirus
Here is a link that shows the changes in the schedule over time
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/past.html
Measles, Mumps, rubella (MMR), the vaccine that they like to point their finger at was first introduced in 1971 and was given once at 15 months in 1983, and in 1994 they started to recommend two shots, one between 12-15 months and a second at 4-6 years old, since autism is diagnosed much earlier then 4, the second dose is irrelevant to its diagnosis. In 2008, the recommendations remained the same as in 1994.
And the good old study by Andrew Wakefield that started the whole autism/MMR "link", was a study even worse in quality than the one I mentioned about the rats. Because of his "study", he theorized that the combination of the vaccines causes autism, and if the vaccines were given separately, it would be safer, and one year before he made the study, he made a patent for a stand-alone measles vaccine. So if he was succesful in his campaign, he would have made himself a rich man because of the patent. Same motivation as the rest.
Back to the article the I posted. It claims that vaccines, fluoride, MSG, GMOs, toxic chemicals and processed foods cause autism. Why not add wifi, cellular radiation, screens on cellphones and mobile devices, increased use of computers, American Idol, Survivor, and anything else the I can think of that started or became more prevelant between 2000-2008. Just because two different things change at the same or similar time, doesn't mean there is any relation. If a relation is suspected, then people should do proper studies to test if there actually is a relation, not just think that since they suspect it, it must be true. Autism groups who preached the MMR cause of autism for so long, eventually had to change their opinions because there was too much evidence showing that there was not a link.
The article also says:
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And in explaining the drastic rise in autism rates over the years, the talking heads actually claim that there is no rise -- the seemingly elevated autism rates are merely the result of improved autism screening methods that are now identifying more cases.
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One great thing about the time I and I live in is our access to information. So instead of saying that the talking heads claim the rise is "merely the result of improved autism screening methods that are now identifying more cases", a person could do some research and see for themselves what has changed in autism diagnosis over the years, and how many things that used to be identified as something else (or not identified at all) are now identified as autism spectrum disorder. Even look at the name, it used to be just called autism, but in 1990 they started calling it "autism spectrum disorder", which means that there is a spectrum of behaviours that can all be diagnosed as autism. Some people who would be considered eccentric before, would now be diagnosed as a high functioning autistic or Asperger Syndrome. The character Sheldon from "The Big Bang Theory" sitcom would likely be diagnosed as a high functioning autistic.
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